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Dental stem cell banking now gives parents a new opportunity.
Parents can store their child’s stem cells, which comes from the milk of the tooth. It’s another way to preserve DNA, just like it’s done with umbilical cord blood banking.
Dental stem cells generally comprise mesenchymal variety of stem cells.
The advantage of stem cells banking over umbilical cord blood banking is that it allows for collecting the cells over a larger period of time, instead of the 15-minute window right after delivery. There are also multiple teeth to choose from.
In order to have usable stem cells, they must come from a fresh source. That’s why milk teeth that are about to fall out are the best source in children. For adults, stem cells can be drawn from wisdom teeth.
There are anywhere from 20 to 50 stem cells that can usually be extracted from each tooth. These stem cells lead 5 to 20 million cells.
The costs of storing the cells vary and the storing process occurs cryogenically. The process is the same for umbilical cord blood banking.
The biggest advantage of dental stem cell banking is that it doesn’t force parents to make a quick decision. With umbilical cord blood banking, the mother has to decide whether or not do it during delivery or immediately after. But with dental stem cell banking, the parents can think about it for a few years before making a final decision.
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