What are your laboratory's qualifications?

Our 10,000 sq. ft. facility is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks, FDA registered and compliant, CLIA certified, and licensed by the Departments of Health in New York, California, Indiana, and Maryland. Our lab has been preserving human tissues, blood, and stem cells for more than 10 years, with over 50,000 samples stored from 14 countries.

What happens when the sample gets to the lab?

All teeth are given an initial inspection upon arrival in the laboratory. If the teeth pass this inspection, the teeth are disinfected, the soft tissue is isolated and processed for cryopreservation. The processed cells are equilibrated with a cryoprotectant to stabilize the sample, frozen using our controlled-rate freezers, and transferred to liquid nitrogen vapor phase freezers for long-term storage. You will receive a laboratory report as confirmation that the sample was received, processed, and successfully stored.

How long can the stem cells be stored?

Stem cells have been viably stored for at least 15 years, and other cells have been viably stored for decades. Our laboratory is a global leader in cell preservation and has provided cryopreservation services for over 10 years.

How do I know my sample will not be confused with someone else's?

All samples are tagged with a unique identifier and tracked through the entire process using a sophisticated sample management and logistics system. These types of management systems have been used for years to collect hundreds of thousands of samples.

Does Store-A-Tooth culture, expand, or differentiate the cells prior to cryopreservation?

Store-A-Tooth offers two different service options; for the first, our "Whole Tissue Service", the cells are not cultured, expanded, or differentiated prior to cryopreservation. One benefit of this approach is that the tissue is preserved in as close as possible to its original state. Keep in mind, however, that the cells will almost certainly need to be expanded in culture at the time when they are used.

The second service option we offer is our "Cultured Cell Service", and as the name of the service indicates, in this case the cells are slightly expanded in culture prior to cryopreservation. One advantage of this is that we can preserve the stem cells from even tiny starting samples that may be insufficient for the Whole Tissue Service. Some other advantages are that more cells are stored, and more extensive quality control is possible for this service.

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.