Very interesting…
Scientists are recommending parents to keep their children’s milk teeth as it could help them later on in life.
Some parents have even started taking steps in cryopreserving their children’s teeth.
So why is it that we’re being asked to keep the tooth fairy at bay?
According to scientists, baby teeth have the kind of stem cells that help regenerate the body and could potentially be used to save a life.
Baby teeth are a source of stem cells like bone marrow and can be saved as a form of biological insurance. Even though research hasn’t yet shown the full potential of these stem cells, scientists are still recommending parents to consider keeping their children’s milk teeth, just to be on the safe side.
Currently, in the U.S. a wave of tooth banks are beginning to appear. You can ship these banks your child’s teeth and have them extract the stem cells from them. The cells are then put into cryopreservation.
Unfortunately, there is a downside… the cost.
Companies like Store-A-Tooth requires a €1,500 upfront fee and then an additional annual fee of €105.
More and more tooth banks are opening up which may bring down the cost in the future but at the moment it is both expensive and currently not available for parents in Ireland.
While the science behind this is still new, it is a very interesting idea.
In recent years placenta banking (the collection and storage of stem cells from the placenta) has become a fairly common practice for a similar reason and both of these methods could prove extremely useful for medical research and innovation down the line.
Neither of my children has begun to lose their teeth yet but I may consider bribing the tooth fairy to let me keep them when they do.
What do you think?
Would you consider storing your child’s teeth?
