Banking Stem Cells

The Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry Volume 33, Number 4/2009 289 INTRODUCTION Tooth banking is based on the firm belief that personalized medicine is the most promising avenue for treating challenging diseases and injuries that could occur throughout lifetime. Stem cell therapy has been used around the world to treat such conditions, and the full promise of stem cell therapy has only been glimpsed so far. There is an abundant source of adult Stem cells in the Human Exfoliated Deciduous teeth (SHED). Recent studies have shown that SHED have the ability to develop into more types of body tissues than other types of stem cells. Researchers have found the pulp of exfoliated deciduous teeth to contain chondrocytes, osteoblasts, adipocytes, and mesenchymal stem cells. All of these cell types hold enormous potential for the therapeutic treatment of: Neuronal degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s Disease); chronic heart conditions such as congestive heart failure and chronic ischemic heart disease; periodontal disease and to grow replacement teeth and bone. One of the most important potential applications using these cells is for the treatment of paralysis due to spinal cord injury which has already been done using mesenchymal stem cells from other sources. The application of stem cell therapy using SHED to treat these diseases is currently being pursued by many researchers at the institutions around the world. There is much research left to be conducted, but the existing research has clearly shown that primary teeth are a better source for therapeutic stem cells than wisdom teeth, and orthodontically extracted teeth. Keeping this premise in mind, the concept of tooth banking has popularized and various companies have set up tooth banks to tap the potential of this new and innovative approach for preserving SHED and stem cells from other dental sources. This review will focus on the potential applications of SHED as well as the techniques adopted for their preservation.