Why do families choose to store their dental stem cells?

There are many reasons. Some treat the service as a sort of biological insurance. Others have chosen to store stem cells because their family has specific history or risk factors that prompt them to consider all potential options available. Some see the momentum building in the field of stem cell research and do not want to miss the opportunity to preserve their stem cells now. Because there are limited opportunities to safely, inexpensively, and painlessly collect and store stem cells – most of our clients want to be prepared “just in case” their children ever need them.

How many families have stored dental stem cells?

Hundreds of thousands have chosen to store stem cells from their child's umbilical cord blood. An increasing number are also choosing to store dental stem cells.

Should I bank cells from more than one tooth?

Although it is not known for certain how many cells will be needed for clinical use in the future, we recommend you store more than one tooth if possible. For this reason, Store-A-Tooth does not charge extra for up to four teeth from the same patient when they are collected and shipped at the same time, and we offer a discount if you should choose to store more than one sample (for example, a baby tooth followed by wisdom teeth later on).

How fresh do the teeth need to be for Store-A-Tooth?

Teeth should be placed in our transport kit and chilled immediately after extraction; if a tooth is allowed to dry out, the tissue will no longer be viable for banking.

Should I bank cells from more than one child?

Yes. Unless the children are identical twins, their cells will not be a perfect immunological match.

I have stored my child's cord blood already and I've heard about other stem cell research. Why should I store my child's dental stem cells?

Scientists are still learning which source of stem cells will work best for the different possible clinical applications. Many families bank both cord blood and dental stem cells because dental stem cells may be useful generating tissues that cord blood cannot, such as bone, neurons, muscle, and cartilage. Cord blood stem cells are typically limited to treating blood cancers and genetic diseases of the blood.

What happens when we need these cells?
- Does Store-A-Tooth simply deliver them to our doctors office or how does it work?

While the specific steps to prepare a sample for use will depend on the therapy in question, the basic process is simple.  Upon request, Store-A-Tooth will retrieve your cells from storage and can ship them directly to the doctor or laboratory handling the preparations for therapy.  If needed, Store-A-Tooth can assist in having initial preparatory steps performed by our partner laboratories, prior to delivery to the doctor or laboratory handling the next steps.  In any case, Store-A-Tooth should be notified as early as possible about the planned use of the cells.