Missed preserving stem cells at birth?

Here’s another oppurtunity to safeguard your child’s future

A single tooth – a lifetime of good health

Dental stem cells are mesenchymal stem cells found in milk teeth of children and permanent teeth of young adults. Dental stem cells have the potential to secure your child from ailments such as stroke, corneal injury, spinal cord injury, arthritis, juvenile diabetes, etc. The younger the person, the more vital are the stem cells. To utilize the full potential of your child’s stem cells, preserve them now.

FAQs

Resources of Stem Cells?

Embryonic Stem Cells:

Human embryonic stem cells are obtained from embryos that are 5–6 days old. They have the ability to form all the different types of cell in the body, including germ cells.

Adult Stem Cells:

Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues. Despite the name, they are found in children as well as in adults. These stem cells are found in most adult tissues like:

• Teeth
• Umbilical cord blood
• Bone marrow
• Menstrual blood
• Skin
• Placental tissue

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells:

Induced pluripotent stem cells are regular adult cells that are not stem cells but are genetically reprogrammed to act like an embryonic stem cell.

What is the right age to collect milk teeth for stem cells?

Dental stem cells are extracted from milk teeth of children aged 5 onwards. This is the ideal age as the quality of the stem cells starts to decrease with the increase in the age. The stem cells are most vital during this period.The right time to recover baby tooth with stem cells is before the teeth become very loose, as the cells in the dental pulp will remain more viable if they continue to have a blood supply.

Instead of putting it under a pillow and discarding them, they can now be a potential source of repair kits for the future.

For children over the age of 12 years and for Teens: Adolescents have two excellent opportunities for preserving their dental pulp stem cells—following extraction of premolar teeth in preparation for orthodontic treatment (braces), and after the extraction of their wisdom teeth under the age of 30. Premolar teeth and any other permanent teeth removed for these purposes too are rich sources of stem cells. So if your teenage children are undergoing any sort of Orthodontic procedure or Braces, you can simply bank his / her dental stem cell and still ensure a healthy life for their future

Should I preserve stem cells for more than one child?

Yes. Although MSCs are considered to be immunoprivileged because of which it could be used regardless of the major histocompatibility complex identity between donor and recipient—but as per the law, these stored specimens are for autologous use only.

Is the procedure painful for my child?

Tooth collection is a routine procedure performed by all dentists in their clinic. Hence you can expect no to minimal pain during the procedure.

Will it need injecting a local anaesthetic?

Most often, the tooth to be collected in a child is mobile. Hence, it may not require injecting a local anaesthetic solution. Often even a topical application of a anaesthetic gel/solution would suffice. However, this decision is solely the responsibility of the dentist.

What problems will my child have after his/her teeth are extracted?

Routinely in children, there are no complications reported after removing their teeth.

What happens if my child's tooth does not have viable cells?

Failing the stringent quality norms put up by Stemade/ Reelabs the rejection letter will be issued by Stemade/Reelabs to you. If your child still has viable teeth left, we will complete the process again free as part of our service or will refund you according to our refund scheme.

How many stem cells can one expect to find in a tooth?

The primary cell count from each tooth is around 0.5 to I million mesenchymal stem cells. However, cells collected from a tooth can be exposed to suitable conditions which promote rapid cell multiplication, thereby yielding billions of stem cells. This number is more than adequate for use in treatment.

Why Milk teeth for Stem cells?

Research has shown that milk teeth are a rich source of stem cells. Stem cells extracted from milk teeth contain mesenchymal stem cells, which multiply rapidly and differentiate into many different cell types and could be used for generating a wide range of cellular tissues and organs. They can now be a potential source of repair kits for future.

What makes dental pulp cells unique?

Dental pulp stem cells differ from other stem cells in many ways and score high in terms of therapeutic advantages like:

• Dental pulp stem cells can differentiate into nerve cells, muscle cells, insulin producing cells, etc. owing to their multipotency
• Dental pulp stem cells have demonstrated interactivity with biomaterials, making them ideal for tissue reconstruction
• Dental pulp stem cells are expandable and they can be multiplied under controlled conditions
• Dental pulp stem cells are plentiful and easy to collect. Unlike harvesting bone marrow stem cells which require invasive surgery and cord blood stem cells which are available only at birth; dental pulp stem cells can be collected from baby and wisdom teeth which would otherwise be discarded
• Dental pulp stem cells are non-controversial adult stem cells, unlike embryonic stem cells, the source of which involves ethical issues

What are the benefits of dental stem cell preservation?

Dental pulp stem cells score high not only in terms of therapeutic advantages but also in terms of practical aspects of preservation. Dental pulp stem cell preservation has the following advantages, which are one of its kind:

• The duration for preserving healthy dental pulp stem cells is long, since it can be done for children in the age group of 5-12 years and also for adults under the age of 30
• The collection of stem cells from the pulp of the tooth is easy, painless, quick, highly efficient, as it involves a simple process of extraction of the tooth
• Easy retrieval process
• Precious as public banks don't exist for storing dental pulp stem cells
• Unlike embryonic stem cells, dental pulp stem cell banking is ethical and perfectly legal

I have already banked my child's cord blood, why should I now preserve his/her dental pulp stem cells?

Scientists are still learning about the best source of stem cells which will work best for the different possible clinical applications. Cord blood stem cells are primarily used today to treat blood diseases whereas dental pulp stem cells are to be used to treat hard and soft tissue diseases and injuries such as healing connective tissue, repairing dental tissues, neuronal tissue and bone tissue.

Can teeth with cavities or gum disease be used for preservation?

No. Teeth with decay or where there is a reason to believe that pulp is compromised should not be considered for preservation.

How are milk teeth collected?

Once confirmed by our panel dentist, you will be scheduled for tooth collection at one of our Stemade smile clinics. Each Stemade smile clinic is equipped with all the necessary equipment and skilled staff for tooth collection. With minimum intervention the loosened tooth is extracted by the dentist and blood sample is collected by the present paramedic and placed in the tooth collection kit which is transferred to the laboratory for processing

Should I wait for the teeth to fall out?

No. You should make an appointment with a dentist at our Stemade smile clinic so he/she can properly extract the teeth using a standard procedure. This includes oral examination to check the condition of the tooth—a sound, non-decayed, non-infected tooth is required for banking purpose; dental X-ray to check the condition of the root of the tooth—at least 1/2 to 2/3 of the root of milk tooth should be present at the time of extraction.

My child is HIV carrier; can I store his dental stem cells?

No.

How many families have stored dental pulp stem cells?

Globally, hundreds of thousands have banked dental pulp stem cells. In India, since our launch in November 2010, thousands have chosen to store stem cells from their child's dental pulp