Dental stem cell potential explored
Companies urge harvesting your own, but use remains theoretical
|
Posted April 20, 2009 |
By Jennifer Garvin Scanning through the headlines, tuning in to morning television shows, stem cells are repeatedly the topic of discussion—a discussion that increasingly includes primary teeth.
The discovery of stem cells in dental pulp has led to much research and predictions about their potential uses. Although the full possibilities of tooth-derived stem cells are not yet known, some researchers believe that they could one day be valuable for regenerating dental tissues and possibly other tissues as well.
Additionally, private companies are now marketing dental stem cell banks as hedges against future illness and say that the cells will eventually provide treatment options.
| |
Do your homework before opting to store dental stem cells for a rainy day
By Jennifer Garvin
What to do if patients ask about stem cells?
Pamela Robey, Ph.D., chief, Craniofacial and Skeletal Diseases Branch of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, recommends that because no one knows for certain what the full possibilities are for the cells, both patients and professionals should take the time to make informed decisions.
Currently, there are no human trials taking place with the postnatal cells and there are no clinical applications available.
Right now, cells from dental pulp in baby or wisdom teeth have the ability to make dentin and pulp. There may be other uses in the future, but those advances in science have not yet been made.
For questions about private stem cell banks, Dr. Jeremy Mao of Columbia University says it's ultimately a patient's individual decision to save primary teeth for stem cells.
For more information about stem cells, visit the Web page of the National Institutes of Health that features stem cell information: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info  . |
|
|
What should clinicians do when patients come in armed with questions?
The first thing is to separate the marketing claims from the science.
Pamela Robey, Ph.D., chief, Craniofacial and Skeletal Diseases Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, says that because no one knows for certain what the full possibilities are for the cells isolated from dental pulp, nor can they accurately predict if or when they'll be used in clinical settings, patients and professionals need to make informed decisions.
"What we do know," she said, "is the cells from dental pulp in baby or wisdom teeth have the ability to make dentin and pulp and they might have the ability to make bone but right now that's all we really know for sure."
Because "the data for other things is not hard yet, we can't say how useful for the future they'll be," she said.
Dr. Michael Rethman, chair of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs, cautioned that with new research unfolding every day, banked stem cells might not be needed.
"This may be the greatest thing since sliced bread but maybe not," he said. "If for no other reason than lots of research is going on to develop other sources of autologous pluripotential cells. For example, in late 2007 Dr. Shinya Yamanaka at the University of Kyoto developed a process to turn adult skin cells into pluripotential cells. As time passes, this and similar techniques will be refined so that by the time pluripotential cells come into widespread therapeutic use, obtaining the needed stem cells will likely be fairly straightforward."
Dr. Jeremy Mao, a professor of dental medicine and director of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at Columbia University, believes that dental stem cells and related bioengineering technologies will transform dentistry in a magnitude that is far greater than amalgam and dental implants.
"Some of the technologies may happen 10 years down the road but others may happen within 10 years," he predicted.
Dr. Mao attributes the longevity aspect to what makes stem cell research so exciting. He has studied dental stem cells from rats and humans and also has worked with the cells to repair muscular and skeletal tissues.
"Metallic alloys, composites and even titanium implants are not permanent solutions," he wrote in the March 2008 issue of the New York State Dental Journal. "In contrast, stem cell technology will generate native tissue analogs that are compatible with the patient's own."
In addition to current stem cell research, the ADA has received calls from members with questions about what to tell patients who ask about banking their children's or grandchildren's baby or wisdom teeth.
Dr. Mao says that is ultimately an individual decision and saving baby teeth for stem cells is up to the patients. Nonetheless, dentists should be able to educate patients with questions about what dental stem cells are. He also acknowledged that he is a scientific advisor for StemSave, a private stem-cell banking company.
Although the ADA does not have a policy on stem cells, it does continue to monitor developments in the science of stem cells.
In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's Council on Clinical Affairs adopted policy on stems cells, saying it "recognizes the emerging field of regenerative medicine and encourages dentists to follow future evidence-based literature in order to educate parents about the collection, storage, viability, and use of dental stem cells with respect to autologous regenerative therapies."
Presently, there are no human trials taking place with the dental postnatal cells and there are no clinical applications available. There also is no central place for dentists or patients to read about the latest in dental stem cell research. Dr. Robey advised anyone hearing claims of new evidence and dental stem cells to consult the Web site, www.clinicaltrials.gov and search for current trials on stem cells.
For more information about stem cells, visit the National Institutes of Health's Stem Cell Information page at http://stemcells.nih.gov/info .
ADA resources include a 2007 Science in the News piece on tissue bioengineering applications that may be accessed at www.ada.org/prof/resources/topics/science_bioengineered_teeth.asp .
The cover story of the July 2006 issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association, "The Use of Adult Stem Cells in Rebuilding the Human Face" by Dr. Robey and Paolo Bianco, M.D., reviewed the different types of stem cells and the potential of the cells in clinical settings.
|
