5 reasons why families bank their children’s tooth stem cells

The reason for banking cord blood stem cells comes from their ability to repair and replace damaged cells throughout the body that have been affected by disease, illness or injury. These cells – known as haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) – are proven to save lives and could be the answer to treating many more conditions in the coming years.

However, it’s becoming increasingly common for parents to bank stem cells from another source, naturally shed milk.

Dental pulp within milk teeth is another source of potentially live saving stem cells known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). If you missed out on the chance to store your child’s cord blood stem cells at birth, Future Health Biobank offers milk tooth stem cell banking via our Dental Pulp Banking service. The banking of these cells, like that at those at birth, provides access to potential stem cell treatments in the future – an area anticipated to become the future of health care.

Many parents are amazed to hear about this alternative and relatively new opportunity to store stem cells. So we have listed five reasons why parents should bank their children’s milk tooth stem cells.

1. “The process is so, so easy.” Simply put, you send us a milk tooth when it falls out, in our specialist collection kit, we process it at our lab, extract the stem cells and store them. It’s a completely non-invasive process that can be achieved from the comfort of your own home.
2. “Peace of mind.” While every parent wishes that their children may never need to access their stem cell sample, it is wise to have it stored as a form of health “back-up”. Stem cells released for treatment could potentially reverse the problem, curing disease or illness.
3. “The increasing promise of the science.” Stem cell research is developing every day; in the laboratories, universities and medical institutions across the world. Today there are over 50,000 publications on the study of MSCs – the type of stem cell found in teeth – and over 1000 clinical trials taking place .
4. “We didn’t bank stem cells at birth.” Here at Future Health Biobank, we really do hear this a lot from our clients. Many parents either didn’t know about stem cell banking when they had a child, or didn’t have the financial freedom to pay it. In some cases, there are other barriers, for example hospital restrictions. Milk tooth stem cell banking is a more affordable second chance to bank your child’s sample in their early years.
5. “The potential to change or save a life.” MSCs found in the dental pulp of milk teeth have the potential to repair and replace tissue cells found in bone, cartilage, muscle, fat and nerves, as part of treatments for diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stroke recovery, autism and many more conditions.

If you would like more information on banking stem cells from teeth, please see our ‘Free Parents guide to Tooth Stem Cell Banking’.