Dental News - Teeth can be saved for future stem cell harvesting

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Teeth can be saved for future stem cell harvesting

The Save-A-Tooth system can be used to transport teeth destined for cryopreservation and stem cell treatment of disease.
PRWEB press release

PRWEB press release

Tue. 16 February 2010

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FERNDALE, USA: Recent research has shown that normally shedding baby teeth and extracted wisdom teeth can be a source of stem cells that are the equivalent of umbilical cord blood stem cells. The use of umbilical cord blood as a source of stem cells has been routine for several years. However, this method has many problems. The window of time for the retrieval of the cord blood is very short, the hospital staff needs to be well trained in the technique and it is expensive.

Every child loses 20 baby teeth over a period of six to eight years, and 1.4 million wisdom teeth are extracted each year. Each of these is a rich source of stem cells. In the past, these teeth were thrown in the trash, but now they can be saved and shipped to a cryopreservation facility and the stem cells stored until needed for the many possible future clinical applications.

“This potential source of stem cells from teeth is a tremendous breakthrough,” said Dr Paul Krasner, professor of endodontics at Temple University School of Dentistry. “Four million baby teeth a year normally fall out, and for a small cost and virtually no effort, each can have their stem cells stored for future medical use.”

The Save-A-Tooth System from Phoenix-Lazerus — one method for storage of knocked out teeth — can be used to transport teeth that can be used as a source of stem cells. Provia Laboratories, the provider of the Store-A-Tooth service and a company that preserves the valuable stem cells found in extracted wisdom teeth and baby teeth, is now using the Save-A-Tooth system to transport these teeth.

“We get the best results banking these stem cells if the teeth that contain them are not damaged during the transport,” said Dr Peter Verlander, chief scientific officer of Provia. “The Save-A-Tooth system has a patented suspension and retrieval net that protects the teeth during transport, and none of the other methods of transporting teeth that have this safety factor.”

There are stem cells present on the roots of extracted wisdom teeth that are especially delicate and subject to crushing damage. The Save-A-Tooth method protects these delicate cells. These stem cells are found at the root end of the wisdom teeth and could be damaged by banging against container walls or crushing during removal from the container.

The Save-A-Tooth system has the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance for transporting knocked out teeth and is used by dentists, schools, hospitals, ambulances and the U.S. Olympic teams. Since knocked out teeth will die within one hour of their being knocked out, the Save-A-Tooth should be purchased ahead of time and kept in first aid kits just like Band-aids, burn cream and gauze. If the Save-A-Tooth is used within 60 minutes of the accident, over 90 per cent of knocked out teeth can be saved by reimplantation.

The Save-A-Tooth system has been used to store, preserve and transport knocked out teeth for over 20 years. Its preservation fluid, Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution, has been shown to be an effective preservation solution for knocked out teeth.

The value of a complete system for the storage of knocked out teeth is outlined in the dental trauma blog, Dental911.org, located at http://Dental911.org.

(Edited by Fred Michmershuizen, DTA)

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