Jason Bresler, DMD, Pediatric Dentist, talks about the new option for people to bank their teeth. Sending their teeth in to a research lab for a fee, the stem cells can be grown and saved for a possible future need for them.
Interview conducted by Ivanhoe Broadcast News in November 2017.
I wanted to start by asking about stem cell banking and your teeth. This is something that is relatively new. Can you tell me a little bit about it?
Dr. Bresler: Sure. Well its cutting edge technology, it’s some really interesting stuff that’s going on. The benefit of dental stem cells is that they’re adult stem cells so you don’t have that same controversy as embryonic stem cells. But also it’s used for replacement of potential heart tissues. Right now the technology is kind of being used for potential replacement of teeth or treatment of gum disease and things like that. But in the future it could be used to treat nerve damage in a car accident or replacement of an organ or even treatment of Type I diabetes. Things like that, which could be really exciting technology in the future.
I wanted to ask you in what ways can it be used right now, what’s the benefit to doing this right now?
Dr. Bresler: So the stem cell technology currently, I don’t know if there are any actual FDA-approved treatments as of right now. But think of it like investing in the stock market, instead of the gains being financial in the future; it’s going to be your health. So if something happens to you ten, fifteen, twenty years down the line this treatment that you get now, the storing of your stem cells has the potential to help correct a potential injury that you have in the future.
Talk to me about the teeth, are you talking about baby teeth that fall out normally or which teeth can be saved?
Dr. Bresler: So all teeth have stem cells in them. Baby teeth are nice because they’re going to fall out but you have to bank them while there’s still viable pulp tissue in them. Meaning it’s no good if a tooth is hanging on just by gum tissue and there’s no viable tissue left in it. The tooth has to have some viable pulp tissue left in it. It can’t be a tooth that’s ready to fall out just by the old dental floss around the tooth and slam the door. It has to have a little more structure than that. The tooth traditionally has to be extracted by a dentist and placed into a special container and sent out under very specific conditions.
But these are teeth for pediatric patients that were coming out at some point anyway?
Dr. Bresler: Correct that’s the benefit of it. Even adult teeth have stem cells in them so a lot of old surgeons will bank wisdom teeth. But you don’t want to just pull any adult tooth just to get these stem cells unless it’s already going to be pulled. That’s the benefit of the baby tooth is these teeth are coming out at some point anyway. So putting a child through an extraction a little bit earlier to get a tooth out for this type of benefit in my opinion it’s worth it.
I have heard of blood the big thing to bank cord blood for the same kind of benefits down the road. In what ways is this similar and in what ways is it not?
Dr. Bresler: Sure very good question. Cord blood itself, and it’s something that I’ve done for my children, is a great way to help with potential blood-borne diseases in the future. The problem with cord blood is it’s usually not meant for the person you’re banking it from. If one child has a disease of the blood you’re hoping that the cord blood from another child will be able to correct it. Because there are genetic components within that cord blood you don’t really want to give it to the same person because then that condition can continue on. The stem cells that we’re getting from teeth they’re able to be used on the person themselves and they’re for regeneration of hard tissue and things like that. That’s the main difference between cord blood and stem cells that you’re getting from teeth.
How long has it been since you’ve been able to offer this, this is fairly new isn’t it?
Dr. Bresler: It is fairly new. We’ve been offering it for a couple of years now.
How do you tell parents about it? What do you say and what’s the reaction?
Dr. Bresler: We have a little pamphlet that we give out. It has some information to explain to the parent this is a product that we’re offering if you want some more information here’s the number to store a tooth. They can go through in further detail everything from the benefits to the costs and it’s a fairly easy thing to get parents excited about.
Are you able to give me a thumbnail sketch of how the tooth is preserved? If you could explain for me what the preservation kit is.
Dr. Bresler: Sure. Inside the preservation kit is a container and within that container is a solution that is meant to maintain the vitality and the Ph. and everything important to keep that pulp tissue vital so that by the time it gets to the lab they have something that they can bank. During that period between taking the tooth out and getting it to the lab, it is critical that it’s stored in a proper manner.
Then the lab handles the rest of the storing. Do you know how long they store it for once parents pay for the service?
Dr. Bresler: It’s stored for life I believe there’s an upfront fee for the actual growing of the stem cells because with baby teeth you’re getting a small amount of pulp tissue that has these stem cells in them. So they actually have to grow them. And that’s where I guess that upfront fee comes and then there’s a yearly storage fee.
Is there anything I didn’t ask you about this procedure that you would want patients to know?
Dr. Bresler: Most parents are afraid that if they have to wait for a certain reason for a baby tooth to be extracted is it going to cause anxiety or fear for their child. There’s definitely timing in areas within a child’s growth and development that we can do these procedures with very minimal discomfort where we’re not affecting the growth and development of the adult teeth and how they come in and yet where they can still get the benefit of being able to bank these cells.
Assuming this isn’t covered by insurance since it’s an elective thing or is it?
Dr. Besler: It’s usually not. I haven’t heard of any insurance companies that do cover this. Now as technology advances and legislation advances with technology, we’re hoping maybe that is something that will happen in the future but as of right now this is usually an out of pocket expense.
As a pediatric dentist would you tell us a little bit about how early dental health impacts overall health especially in the long run?
Dr. Besler: The mouth is the gateway to the body. As an infant and a child when you’re first getting your teeth, if you start to have issues with decay and then infection within the mouth that’s going to affect how a child continues to grow and what their demeanor is like. So establishing an early dental routine at home is extremely important in overall health because that really will determine that child’s ability to go to school and eat the foods that are necessary for them to grow properly and strength their bones, muscles, brains, everything that’s really important especially at that young age.
Could you give parents some tips, what are some things early on that they should be looking to do? What kind of routines or habits should they establish with their child and how do you go about doing that?
Dr. Besler: The Academy Pediatric Dentistry recommends that a child be seen within six months of the eruption of the first tooth or by twelve months of age. At that point the child should be able to see a dentist and establish a dental routine at home. Now as soon as a tooth erupts we should start brushing their teeth. Even before that after bottles and things like that before they even get teeth just gently wiping the gums down to clean out the mouth, but it’s really important especially once multiple teeth come in and even when they start to touch then flossing even becomes important. Brushing and flossing every night will really help decrease the risk of decay. Also it is important to make sure we don’t put children to bed with bottles of milk or juice.
What is a good tip for parents as children start to become independent? At about what age should parents start trying to get them to do this on their own, establishing those routines of good dental hygiene? And what should they do to get that started?
Dr. Bresler: We normally don’t recommend a child brush on their own until about seven or eight years old. Before that for instance, my daughter is three years old she wants to do everything by herself. But we let her do it first and that’s kind of playtime and then we go in afterwards and make sure that she did a good job. She understands now that even if she wants to do it by herself that mommy or daddy have to go back in and make sure everything is clean. While kids really want that independence they don’t have the full manual dexterity to really do a good job until they’re about that age.
Can you run through a list and give parents tips to avoid toddler tooth decay?
Dr. Bresler: Sure. The main thing is putting a child to bed with milk or juice. Basically I compare it to taking a glass of milk, putting it out on the front porch on a ninety eight degree day and then within thirty minutes that milk starts to curdle, starts to turn to acid; the same thing happens in a child’s mouth. When you put a child to bed with milk there’s a tendency not to swallow everything that’s within the mouth. So those sugars from the milk or juice basically just coat the teeth and it’s a twenty four hour buffet for the bacteria in the mouth.
Finally some tips for parents who are dealing with a teething baby.
Dr. Bresler: Sure. Teething can be very difficult and most children react very differently to it. Some kids have no problem; some kids are very fussy, get low grade fevers things like that. Nights that it’s really bad Tylenol or Motrin works. I like what I call the chew toys so teething ring, teething fingers things like that. And if you want you can put them in the fridge for a little bit so that they’re cool that way when a child is biting onto it it’s also giving like an ice pack type treatment to it.
But not frozen?
Dr. Bresler: I don’t like frozen just because if it’s too frozen remember the inside of our mouth is wet and if you remember the old Christmas story where you stick your tongue on the pole, we’re trying to avoid you know that soft tissue getting stuck to a frozen ice pack.
END OF INTERVIEW
This information is intended for additional research purposes only. It is not to be used as a prescription or advice from Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. or any medical professional interviewed. Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. assumes no responsibility for the depth or accuracy of physician statements. Procedures or medicines apply to different people and medical factors; always consult your physician on medical matters.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Jason Bresler, DMD
Marry Parra
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