Baby Teeth a Rich Source of Stem Cells:
No More Excuses for Abortionists

Big stem cell source found in baby teeth

BETHESDA, MD, Tuesday, April 22, 2003. National Institutes of Health scientists yesterday announced a discovery that could put the tooth fairy out of business and provide a new source of stem cells for medical research and treatment. They found that "baby teeth" shed by young kids contain stem cells — cells with the amazing ability to change into some of the 200 other types of cells that form a human body.

 

Baby teeth prove rich stem-cell source

Tuesday, April 22, 2003. U.S. researchers have found that baby teeth are rich in stem cells and may provide an alternative source of raw material for promising but controversial research on cells taken from human embryos. 

 

Scientific American: Potent Stem Cells Found in Baby Teeth

Your seven-year-old's baby tooth may be worth a lot more than the quarter the tooth fairy left under the pillow. Scientists have discovered that the pulp inside deciduous teeth is a treasure trove of fast-growing stem cells. Naturally-shed choppers could thus provide an easily accessible new source of these sought-after cells for clinical studies of stem-cell transplantation and tissue engineering.

 

Scientists discover unique source of stem cells

Scientists report for the first time that "baby" teeth, the temporary teeth that children begin losing around their sixth birthday, contain a rich supply of stem cells in their dental pulp. The researchers say this unexpected discovery could have important implications because the stem cells remain alive inside the tooth for a short time after it falls out of a child's mouth, suggesting the cells could be readily harvested for research. According to the scientists, who published their findings online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the stem cells are unique compared to many "adult" stem cells in the body. They are long lived, grow rapidly in culture, and, with careful prompting in the laboratory, have the potential to induce the formation of specialized dentin, bone, and neuronal cells. If followup studies extend these initial findings, the scientists speculate they may have identified an important and easily accessible source of stem cells that possibly could be manipulated to repair damaged teeth, induce the regeneration of bone, and treat neural injury or disease.

 

Baby Teeth Offer Another Effective Source of Adult Stem Cells

Source: United Press International; April 22, 2003 — Bethesda, MD — Instead of leaving baby teeth out for the tooth fairy, parents might do better to send them to doctors, who someday could harvest their hidden stem cells to help combat diseases, researchers reported Monday. The stem cells in baby teeth can transform themselves into nerve and fat cells in laboratory dishes, investigators said. In the future, stem cells plucked from a child’s discarded molar could be frozen in cell banks to benefit its donor for decades. … Incisors and canines only yield roughly 20 stem cells each, with molars yielding even less. Nevertheless, each stem cell from a baby tooth can reproduce itself many times, yielding trillions upon trillions of cells. “We haven’t had a problem with having enough cells to work with,” Shi said.

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