I believe many treasure parents have read or recently read an article called “Don’t throw away children’s deciduous teeth after they fall off, it is of great use to preserve them”.
Even though it is a renovation of the old news several years ago abroad, and even though it quietly distorts the original meaning of the old news, this convenient and economical means caters to the worries and anxieties of the majority of parents about their children’s health and future, and is widely welcomed by treasure parents.
Today, Mother Clove (Micro Signal: dinxiangmami) will tell you whether the baby teeth can save lives.
Are there really stem cells in deciduous teeth?
This is true. Scientists did find stem cells in deciduous teeth.
That was 2003, when American pediatric stomatologist Shi Songtao got some cells from his daughter’s deciduous teeth and used some methods in the laboratory to make them develop in the direction of bone, heart and cartilage cells. They are stem cells.
[Stem Cells] Just like Sun Wukong, it can be changed into more than one, and it can also become cells that play different functions in the body.
There are many kinds of such [stem cells] in various parts of the adult body. They can be changed into cells with specific functions to replace dead or broken cells in time.
Like umbilical cord blood, stem cells in deciduous teeth may have medical value. However, we would like to say next that, like umbilical cord blood, its value is probably limited at present.
Teeth must be pulled out before they fall naturally!
First of all, according to the current research results, in order to collect stem cells from deciduous teeth, we must [go to the hospital to pull it out when the root tip of the child absorbs one third of it].
[One-third apical resorption] Is it what? Sorry, you can’t judge, it has to be left to the dentist to judge.
That is to say, if you really want to save deciduous teeth for your child, if your teeth are loose, you must go to a doctor, go through various procedures, draw blood for physical examination and extract teeth. Only in this way can there be enough stem cells in a deciduous tooth.
Moreover, the stem cells in a tooth are not enough at all. Generally, at least 2-4 stem cells need to be pulled out.
Bao’s parents must have realized that such a good thing as [tooth treatment] costs a lot for children.
How to save a tooth when it is pulled out is a problem.
As the article said, it is obviously useless to put away the child’s teeth and take them out in the future.
Why?
Cells, like plants, must live to grow. Cell growth needs water, oxygen, nutrition and protection from harmful microorganisms.
The teeth are stored in the box, and the surface will not look bad, but in two or three days, even if there were living cells and stem cells in it, they will all die.
Therefore, it does not mean that we can use the fallen teeth in the future. In order to preserve them for a long time, we need to freeze the cells inside with special technology. And, in fact, we can’t wait for our teeth to fall off naturally, but…
If you really [save well], the cost will not be small either.
We are not in a hurry to identify the possibility of commercial speculation in that article, but it does mention the [tooth bank]-the teeth we keep are useless, and we have to give them the extracted teeth.
In the 2013 article, the author took the initiative to mention that it would cost 1,385 pounds, equivalent to about 12 800 yuan, to preserve a 30-year deciduous tooth for his nephew.
In China, the current announced price for a tooth is about 18,000 yuan for 20 years.
As we said earlier, we have to pull out at least 2-4 teeth, that is, it costs about 50,000 yuan to save teeth. You see, besides the child’s pain several times, the wallet is also painful enough.
There may also be parents who will say that if it can really save lives, this little money is nothing.
What if it is saved?
Can you help me? So far, it is not certain.
Although the scientific research on stem cells has been in full swing, the real transformation into treatment is very limited. At present, most of the advertisements we can see for [stem cell therapy] are just commercial gimmicks.
We have been saying before that stem cells have the [potential] to become cells that perform different functions in the body.
However, to control them [to really become] the cells with specific functions we want, scientists still need to continue their efforts.
The 2013 article has been stressing that [the future] may be used, but after this content becomes Chinese, [the outlook for the future] has been deliberately blurred, as if the remaining teeth can be used to overcome various diseases now.
How long may this future be? Conservative estimates, perhaps at least 10 years.
Should I have umbilical cord blood or deciduous teeth?
Half of our answer to this question is: umbilical cord blood, donation is better than self-preservation.
As for whether deciduous teeth exist or not… Like umbilical cord blood, the types of diseases that stem cells in deciduous teeth can treat are limited. We cannot expect to save a few teeth and treat all diseases.
What do you think of this problem? Please leave us a message and tell us your opinion.