Do You Know the 5 Types of Dental Stem Cells?

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October 31, 2017October 31, 2017
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5 Types of Dental Stem Cells

Dental pulp is the soft living tissue inside a tooth that contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).  The ideal time to harvest dental stem cells is when children lose their deciduous (baby) teeth, either through natural loss or extraction.

While MSCs from dental pulp stem cells are only being used only in laboratory settings now, there is huge potential for the cells to be used in regenerative applications in the future, because MSCs from other sources are being explored in more than 600 clinical trials worldwide.[1]

Dental Stem Cells - Anatomy

Five different types of dental stem cells have been discovered, including:

  1. Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) – Stem cells isolated from the pulp tissue of extracted human third molars.
  2. Dental follicle progenitors cells (DFPCs) – The dental follicle is a loose mesenchymal tissue surrounding the developing tooth germ which participates in the formation of periodontal progenitor cells.[2]
  3. Stem cells from apical papilla (SCAP) –  Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are present in the apical papilla of permanent immature teeth.
  4. Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) – Periodontal ligament stem cells are stem cells present in the perivascular space of the periodontium, the tissue that surrounds the teeth. The are responsible for regeneration of periodontal components, including the periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, and cementum.
  5. Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) – Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) are mesenchymal cells present within exfoliated deciduous tooth pulp tissue that can differentiate into a broad range of different cell types, including osteoblasts, adipocytes, and neuron cells.[3]

While the dental stem cell storage market is an early-stage market, new competitors are entering it on a global basis, with the United States, UK, and India leading the way for industry competition. The largest competitor within the global dental stem cell market is BioEden.

BioEden became the world’s first company to collect, assess, and cryogenically store living stem cells from deciduous baby teeth when it began offering services in 2006. Today, BioEden operates in 25 countries and has members in over 60 countries. It also has laboratories in the US (Texas), Europe (UK), and Asia (Thailand). With this market dominance, it is estimated to control more than 50% of the dental stem cell storage market worldwide.