Slipping your children's teeth under the pillow for the tooth fairy may be a thing of the past. Now, thanks to LN2 freezer (liquid nitrogen) technology, companies are offering services to store baby teeth in case they are needed in the future to help treat or cure serious family medical issues.
The new technology allows companies to bank adult stem cells found in baby teeth and even in wisdom teeth. So instead of throwing those teeth away or having a dentist discard extracted wisdom teeth people can now store these precious dental stem cells that can be used for various dental and medical applications.
The lab harvests pulp and tissue that contains stem cells and then processes the cells for freezing. The cells are equilibrated with cyroprotectant and then placed in LN2 freezer storage units at the company. This will ensure long-term storage until the possible need by a healthcare provider.
The cost to store a tooth is just under $800 which includes the first year of storage after that fees fall about $10 a month to keep the tooth frozen.
As of right now there are no medical applications using dental stem cells but they are being used in studies. There is hope that one day – thanks to the help of LN2 freezer technology – doctors will be able to treat spinal cord injuries, MS (multiple sclerosis) and a variety of other issues.
So the next time the tooth fairy is in town, think about keeping that tooth instead of trading it in for a shiny coin. Who knows, that tooth may be worth someone's life down the road!
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