I still remember the day where I lost my first baby tooth, I was both excited and afraid because I thought that it might and at the same time I wanted to look cool in front of my classmates. I also remember putting the tooth under my pillow waiting for the tooth fairy to come and take it and put some money as an exchange.
I grew up and I found out that tooth fairies are not real (it was a disappointment I’m not going to lie) and now I have my own children and I still act as a tooth fairy to take their baby teeth because I found out that they are worth more than I actually thought.
If you are wondering why parents keep their baby teeth, then you should keep reading to know.
The reason behind parents keeping their children’s teeth is purely medical. Throughout the years some parents adopted the tradition of keeping the umbilical cord blood of their babies to have stem cells in case the child needs them in the future. However, ongoing research discovered stem cells in baby teeth.
If you are wondering, stem cells can be used to grow various types of cells that heal genetic blood diseases, diseases, injuries, and cancer. On top of that, stem cells can help you grow replacement tissues.
In the early 2000’s Dr. Songato Shai found that some rosy tissues were stuck on the root of his daughter’s baby tooth. He thought that he could find stem cells in that area and he had to postpone his work until his daughter loses another tooth.
Lucky for him, he didn’t wait long because after one week only his daughter lost a second baby tooth. Dr. Shai took his daughter’s tooth and placed it in a test tube and took it to his lab, then he extracted stem cells from the tooth successfully. He didn’t stop here, he also multiplied the stem cells in his lab.
Dr. Shai then continued researching this topic with his colleagues at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in Bethesda. This was a winning discovery for Dr. Shai and his colleagues because they have always searched for new stem cells’ sources and the tooth thing was like hitting the jackpot. Extracting stem cells from baby teeth is a method that can save many lives.
How Stem Cells from Baby Teeth Are Different
Stem cells that are extracted from baby teeth are different from the cells found in other parts in the body (and they actually top them in somethings). As you may or may not know, stem cells can be found in different parts of the body, but reaching them is very hard and they look like the cells surrounding them and that makes them a little bit hard to distinguish (if that is not enough, there are only a few numbers of stem cells in every region). Up to this day, studies, researches, and tests are still being conducted to understand how to exploit these cells to repair or regenerate damaged cells and treat diseases.
How to Preserve Baby Teeth
Now that you know the importance and the real value of your baby’s teeth, you should know how to preserve them properly. Storing baby teeth in bags and boxes and bags is useless because that will make them useless if you want to extract stem cells.
To preserve stem cells, first, the teeth must be removed by a licensed dentist before they fall out all by themselves. Preserving your baby’s teeth is not something that you can do at home because there are many critical factors that come into play. To preserve the teeth, you have to contact a company that preserves baby teeth. After contacting the company and confirming your choice, make sure to let the dentist know so that he can know how to operate, then use the preservation kit that the company offers and sen the tooth or teeth to them.
