As a result of advances in regenerative medicine, several remarkable procedures that promote the ability of the body to self-heal have been pioneered and developed. One exciting area is that of stem cell therapy.
Stem cells refer to the undifferentiated cells in the body that possess the ability to generate new cell types. As drawn from stem cell-rich areas in the body, they offer the potential to either generate new stem cells or differentiate into specialized cells like those in bones, heart muscle, nerves, and other organs and tissues. In medical applications, stem cells play a crucial role in regenerating damaged and diseased tissue and treating chronic, auto immune, and previously incurable diseases.
While the umbilical cord and placenta represent the most common places to harvest stem cells, valuable stem cells can also get harvested from baby teeth and healthy adult extracted teeth. However, most adult teeth recommended for extraction will have extensive decay or damage. The good news is that wisdom teeth are different. Troublesome as they are, wisdom teeth frequently get extracted due to a lack of space or impaction. And without damage to the dental pulp, they represent an excellent stem cell source.
As unlikely as it is that you or a loved one will need the stem cells when the tooth gets extracted, there's a chance those stem cells will get needed down the road. For this reason, we recommend banking those stem cells. At Greater Atlanta Oral Facial Surgery, we partner with StemSave, the largest dental stem cell bank and the one frequently chosen by families, dentists, and health professionals across the country.
StemSave uses cryopreservation, a meticulously controlled method for preserving stem cells. Specialized freezers using precisely managed temperature reduction help ensure the highest number of viable stem cells will be available to you, a family member, or a loved one when needed— even decades later.