Source: The Greeley Tribune - Greely, Colorado
Posted: August 30, 2006
Summary:
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health were able to extract "intermediate" stem cells from recently exfoliated (lost) deciduous (baby) teeth. Stem cells of exfoliated deciduous teeth are considered "intermediate," meaning that if the stem cells are extracted soon after the loosening of the tooth, they can be grown into tooth-forming cells (odontoblasts), bone cells, fat and even nerve cells. These intermediate stem cells are more versatile than the adult ones, and a good deal less ethically controversial. Rresearchers are studying ways to use them to grow new teeth to replace lost ones, grow new bone to repair the damage of gum disease and to possibly make dental implants that would be better accepted by the human body.
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