Keeping Your Teeth...  

Keep baby teeth after seeing this advice on TV news a couple of days ago I found this article:


Parents now preserving baby teeth for stem cells
July 23rd, 2009 @ 6:48pm
By Carole Mikita
SALT LAKE CITY -- That tooth under your child's pillow may be worth more than what the fairy is planning to leave. Some parents are now preserving their children's baby teeth for stem cells.

Twelve-year-old Abi McGlone is missing a few baby teeth. Her parents are keeping each one, not for the tooth fairy, but for something potentially more important. Abi has Type 1 diabetes and they hope, someday, stem cells from her baby teeth might unlock a cure.

For a few years, many new parents have banked the blood in their babies' umbilical cords right after birth, but it's expensive.

Abi was diagnosed with diabetes at age 3.

"Neither of us knew anything about diabetes and had no clue that it was such a huge, life-long change," said Maria McGlone, Abi's mother.

The McGlones say the baby teeth stem cells ads are promising. In 2003, researchers at the National Institutes of Health discovered that stem cells are nestled in the pulp of baby teeth.

"From that single baby tooth, we can isolate between 10 and 20 cells. The number is very small, but they're very powerful in how they can divide," said Pamela Robey, with the National Institues of Health.

At the University of Utah School of Medicine, researchers say they are years away from conclusive evidence about stem cells from baby teeth. However, there are more powerful cells in other parts of the body; powerful in the number that can be harvested at one time.

Dr. Amit Patel, director of Clinical Regenerative Medicine at the University of Utah, says for stem cells to be effective, doctors need millions or billions.

"The type of cells that can be harvested from dental pulp are mazencamal cells; and what's interesting about those, those are the tissue-supporting cells which are found in all the organs of the body. So, in bone marrow, these cells are already readily available," Patel said.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7272921

Well, I had to think about this. No I don't save teeth. Not even the kids teeth. I thought about it when they were little, saving their first tooth but I ended up losing them any way so I gave up.

I am lucky enough not to have lost any teeth yet, I am not sure that I would keep them though even if I did. Although I have kept a few of my childrens teeth that they have not lost and I keep them in my handbag!!

My daughter keeps hers if they give them to her.
I never did

No i have never saved any teeth that i have either lost or had pulled.

Thats funny. I havent thought of keeping a tooth since i discovered the tooth fairy was not real.

When I had a wisdom tooth pulled, I did save it, because the roots were so long. (Even the dentist remarked on the length.) I put it in a little ring box I had. I may still be in my jewelry box.
My erstwhile husband still had a baby tooth in his mouth when I met him. The dentist convinced him to have it pulled, and we saved it. I'm not sure where it is now.

Hi twoey68,



No I haven't saved my any tooth, never thaought of it, when the dentists pulled them out, he just discard them.


Tamara

I haven't lost any of my adult teeth. Well, my wisdom teeth had to be surgically cut out, but they wouldn't even let me see them! I didn't want to keep them, just see what they looked like. They probably looked like any other tooth, but being as I've never been able to personally see at the back of my mouth where they were, I would have liked to seen them.

I have kept my little sisters tooth..and a nephews but never any of my own. If one gets pulled I usually do not keep it at all. The kids teeth are a different matter..like there first teeth, Just seems to be a special thing to save all of the first of most things for the kids.