Stem Cells From Extracted Wisdom Teeth Could Transform Medical Treatments
Study suggests that harvesting wisdom teeth can be a biological insurance policy.
Stem cells have been used to treat many different diseases. People can undergo procedures like harvesting cells from their blood or through bone marrow collection to save for future use. But now there could be an easier way to preserve your stem cells and that’s from extracted wisdom teeth.
Since millions of people in the US undergo wisdom-tooth extractions every year, according to earth.com, instead of discarding the molars as biowaste, they could be used as a source of stem cells. That trip to your dentist could become the first step in future personalized medical treatment.
How Does it Work?
Research from the University of the Basque Country in Northern Spain found that the soft core of wisdom teeth called dental pulp could be transformed into neurons, bone, and even heart muscle in the lab. Since most wisdom teeth surgeries are done on young adults, the pulp cells are still healthy and can divide briskly.
But for the stem cells to integrate into damaged brain circuits and replace damaged or lost neurons, they must be able to generate electrical impulses, according to a press release from the university. This is what the team led by Gaskon Ibarretxe and José Ramón Pineda, professors at the UPV/EHU’s Department of Cell Biology and Histology, has achieved.
Since adult neurons do not divide or regenerate, scientists have been looking for a solution that will replace lost neurons in people with epilepsy or other brain disorders. The harvested stem cells are capable of synthesizing GABA, a neural transmitter, which can be used to replace neurons that are lost or damaged.
According to Ibarretxe and Pineda, this discovery is a vastly different approach to traditional cell therapies that focuses on protecting or preserving what still functions. Now these cells can be replaced.
Building Your Own Insurance Policy
Banking your own dental stem cells eliminates the possibility of immune-rejection, stressed earth.com, and could save the waiting time of finding a suitable donor.
Saving your wisdom teeth isn’t as easy as keeping them in a jar, but it is not that difficult either. Just make sure you make the arrangements with your dentist or oral surgeon ahead of time. The extracted tooth is placed into a sterile vial that is rushed to a lab where a technician prepares the pulp cells to be frozen for future use.
The cost is around the same as cord-blood banking but the stem cells from wisdom teeth can be used for decades.
At this point, more data is needed on long-term safety. If proven safe and effective, you may leave your dentist’s office with a preservation kit and not just a prescription. The next medical breakthrough may be hiding in the teeth that were once just thrown away.
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