THE FUTURE-NOW
Monday, May 18th, 2009
I attended a most interesting lecture in conjunction with my monthly staff meeting at New York Presbyterian Hospital last week. Dr Greg Chotkowski, an oral surgeon who trained at New York Presbyterian, presented information on harvesting stem cells from teeth. Yes, from teeth! Greg is the founder and president of StemSave , an innovative organization that has developed the capability of storing stem cells from children’s teeth. I’ve taken the liberty to share information from the National Institute of Health and some of Dr. Chotkowski’s thoughts from an article he has recently published.
What are stem cells?
According to the National Institute of Health:
“Stem cells are distinguished from other cell types by two important characteristics. First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue- or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. In other organs, however, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.”
“Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.”
Stem cells are unique in that they are the only cells in our body that can regenerate. They are the repair and maintenance cells of the body and are the key to unlocking the promise of regenerative medicine. Another unique feature of certain types of stem cells is their ability to differentiate. They can turn into a broad range of specialized cells. This enables stem cells to regenerate organs, tissues, bones, specialized cells, and much more. There is hope that stem cell therapies may treat diseases and conditions such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, MS, arthritis, heart disease, spinal cord injuries, joint replacement, and other genetic diseases.
Recently, scientists have discovered stem cells in the baby teeth of children and in the developing wisdom teeth of young adults. The stem cells that exist in teeth are very compelling for a number of reasons. Most notabel is their “plasticity”, or ability to differentiate into other types of tissue such as muscle, neurons, bone, organs, insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells, skin and cartilage to name a few. This means they could potentially be used to treat a wide range of diseases and injuries.
The second interesting thing about saving the stem cells from your teeth is they are your own- this is referred to as autologous tissue. Once they are reintroduced into the body during a treatment, they will not be rejected as foreign tissue. Recovering stem cells from baby teeth also ensures the stem cells are young, strong, and vital.
In the StemSave program, patients enroll directly with StemSave and provide the name of their preferred dentist. The dentist is contacted and provided with the necessary tools and instructions so the tooth can be returned to the StemSave lab. In the StemSave lab the stem cells are processed, tested for viability and cryo-preserved. All registered StemSave dental practices are provided with materials that are both informative and visually compelling. StemSave works closely with the dentist to offer training so that patients can be made aware of the option to save the stem cells from a tooth that is scheduled for extraction.
According to Dr. Chotkowski, growing new tissue and organs from stem cells is no longer science fiction. It’s happening now! Recently, a new windpipe was grown with tissues developed from a patient’s own stem cells. The new windpipe was transplanted into the patient without the need to take any rejection drugs.
It’s both exciting and gratifying to know that dentists are now on the frontlines of this emerging medical technology. We are now at a point where a trip to the dentist could potentially change a life.
As always, thanks for listening.
RMS
