Dental pulp stem cells derived (DPSCs) represents a new and exciting alternative source of adult stem cells for use in regenerative medicine. DPSCs are of interest because the cells can be collected from teeth that fall out naturally or are removed by a dentist, which is a minimally invasive way to obtain them. Dental pulp is the soft living tissue inside each tooth, and it contains mesenchymal stem cells that help maintain and repair the tooth. DPSCs are a type of adult stem cell found in the pulp of both baby teeth and permanent teeth, including wisdom teeth, and are usually discarded when baby teeth fall out naturally or teeth are extracted.
Adult stem cells used in our treatments can be identified in many tissue and organs in the human body, including peripheral blood,brain,bone marrow,blood vessels, skin, skeletal tissue, teeth, guts,livers, heart,testis and ovarian epithelium tissue.[1]
Laboratory research suggests that multipotent dental pulp stem cells can develop into cell types such as:
- Bone – Osteoblasts
- Muscle cells – myocytes
- Cartilage cells – Chondrocytes
- Adipocytes – Fat tissue [2]
- Neural Cells to generate glial cells, astrocytes, nerves and brain tissue
- Myocardiocytes for repairing/replace damaged cardiac cells/tissue after heart attack [3]
Safeguarding Future Health with Dental Pulp Cell Banking
Stem cells from dental pulp also give parents the option of banking their children’s cells, especially if they did not store cord blood or placenta derived cells. Banked dental pulp cells are being studied for possible future uses, but there is no guarantee that they will be suitable or approved for treating a particular injury or disease. Cryogenically saved cells can be thawed and prepared in our laboratory on request, and our medical team will confirm how long testing and expansion will take and whether any use is appropriate (in Thailand only; we cannot send stored cells abroad due to shipping restrictions). The promise and potential for such personalized medicine is great and has immense potential for the treatment of several types of degenerative diseases.[4]
What Can DPSC’s be used for?
Stem cells taken from dental pulp are being studied in research for areas such as:
- Dental/Tooth reconstruction
- Corneal reconstruction
- Heart disease , Myocardial infarction and Congestive heart failure
- Spinal cord injuries
- Strokes and Traumatic Brain Injuries
- Muscle repair for Sports injuries
- Liver repair & regeneration
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Peripheral nerve repair
- Diabetes Type 2
- Wounds and Burn healing
- Bone & tissue engineering
Extracting and Preserving Tooth Stem Cells
When a child’s deciduous teeth (baby teeth) come out naturally, usually between the ages of 6 and 12, they can be temporarily placed in a sealed container of milk and shipped to our stem cell lab in Bangkok. For optimal results, the fallen teeth should be less than 3 days old. Once our lab has received the package, dental pulp stem cells are isolated, cleaned,processed and cryogenically preserve the stem cells for up to 20 years. The stored cells may be available for the child donor, or for a family member if they are a suitable match, should a treatment using them become appropriate and available in the future. The Regeneration Center of Thailand and BioEden Labs have developed the unique technology and expertise to preserve your children’s dental pulp cells ready for use in case they are ever needed.
All these properties and findings show that dental pulp stem cells offer tremendous utility for regenerative cellular therapies for both neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic injuries such as those to our central nervous system along with spinal cord injuries.
To learn more about regenerative medical therapies using dental pulp stem cells please contact us today.
Published Clinical Citations
-
[1] ^ Osathanon, T, C Sawangmake, N Nowwarote, and P Pavasant. 2013. Neurogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells using different induction protocols. Oral diseases, no. 4 (May 7). doi:10.1111/odi.12119. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23651465
-
[2] ^ Osathanon, Thanaphum, Nunthawan Nowwarote, and Prasit Pavasant. 2011. Basic fibroblast growth factor inhibits mineralization but induces neuronal differentiation by human dental pulp stem cells through a FGFR and PLCγ signaling pathway. Journal of cellular biochemistry, no. 7. doi:10.1002/jcb.23097. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21381082
-
[3] ^ Sawangmake, Chenphop, Nunthawan Nowwarote, Prasit Pavasant, Piyarat Chansiripornchai, and Thanaphum Osathanon. 2014. A feasibility study of an in vitro differentiation potential toward insulin-producing cells by dental tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Biochemical and biophysical research communications, no. 3 (August 30). doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2014.08.121. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25181343
-
[4] ^ Sukarawan, Waleerat, Nunthawan Nowwarote, Piyarat Kerdpon, Prasit Pavasant, and Thanaphum Osathanon. 2013. Effect of basic fibroblast growth factor on pluripotent marker expression and colony forming unit capacity of stem cells isolated from human exfoliated deciduous teeth. Odontology, no. 2 (July 20). doi:10.1007/s10266-013-0124-3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23872868