Survey of Current Research on Medical/Dental Potential of Dental Stem Cells.

Abstract

There has been an abundance of research on the of use stem cells for medical treatments in recent history. However, there are significant setbacks in using most stem cells on a clinical level. These difficulties include the ethical issues with using embryonic stem cells and the painful, invasive procedures needed to access stem cells from various areas of the body. Since 2000, when dental stem cells were first discovered, research on their potential uses has grown. Dental stem cells have noteworthy advantages over other stem cells as they are easily accessed from teeth that are going to be discarded. There are also no ethical concerns with using dental stem cells. To date, dental stem cells have been shown to have the ability to differentiate into many cell lineages. Based on this, dental stem cells seem to have a lot of promise in treating a multitude of different diseases. The next crucial stem in the research of these stem cells, will be conducting clinical trials to see if their potential can actualize within the human body.