Stem cells in milk teeth can help cure ailments

Milk teeth that get thrown away or buried in mud by kids have the power to heal chronic ailments. Research shows that stem cells can be derived from milk teeth, which can then be used to treat several diseases, including bone deformity, in advanced age.

“Primitive stem cells are present in the milk tooth. Stem cells are a known healer of chronic disorders that affect vital organs,” said Dr Nitu Singh, head and associate professor, department of molecular biology centre for advanced research, King George's Medical University (KGMU).

While doctors are aware of the use of stem cell in treating ailments, so far, its source was thought to be limited to the bone marrow and the umbilical cord. Extraction stem cells from the bone marrow is painful and requires high precision and standards for infection control, say experts.

Explaining how stem cells can be obtained from a milk tooth, Dr Singh said, “Stem cells can be extracted after the tooth has fallen off naturally, so that there is no need for any kind of surgical procedure on the child. The cells can be stored with the stem cell bank and used when the patient needs them.” Doctors say that stem cells are also present in permanent teeth that replace the milk ones. However, with growing age, the number of stem cells in permanent teeth reduces. Also, permanent teeth do not fall off till much later on in life .“As diseases mostly affect people after the age of 40 years, permanent teeth practically have no role in providing stem cells,” said Dr Singh.

She and her team conducted a study for which they collected teeth from patients who came to KGMU’s dental wing. The minimum age of such patients was 13 years and the maximum was 60 years. “Tests proved that higher number of stem cells were present in teeth of patients up to the age of 16 years,” she said.

Stem cells are derived from the dental palp (the part in the centre of the tooth that is made up of living connective tissue) and cells called odontoblasts – apical papilla and gingiva (gums). “We dissected the tooth from the middle and then examined the derived cells. We found they were primitive stem cells,” she added.

“Such stem cells can help in correcting cartilage, bones and regenerative disorders. The cells should be properly stored in a stem bank,” she said.

Dr Singh’s study, ‘Enumeration and characterisation of Mesenchymal stem cells from age-dependent human dental tissue’ was sanctioned by the Indian Council of Medical Research and published in the Journal of Stem Cell Research and Therapy.