Diabetes News Hound ran a story today about banking teeth in hopes that the cells within them will yield a cure. http://diabetesnewshound.com/type1/dental-stem-cells/ The price is not cheap. I think it was $650 initially plus $120 a year. I know a family with a T1 daughter who has done this, and they feel that it’s a positive investment. My first (and second) reaction is that it’s something that’s costly and isn’t going to benefit anyone, particularly my child. YET … my daughter has just a couple teeth left, and if they really are the source of the cure, I’d sure hate to miss out. Snake oil or a wise investment? What are your thoughts?
I hadn’t heard of this. My first reaction was snake oil, but then I started thinking about all the wonderful baby teeth in my daughters mouth. How wonderful and simple it would be. I have a little bit of time before we even start losing baby teeth so I will probably keep my eyes open. At this point I think it would be far reaching to bank baby teeth, but who knows? Weider cures have come about.
Never heard of this… my son was diagnosed last year and is 14 so most of his baby teeth are gone. The article does mention that wisdom teeth will work too, so maybe I’ll monitor this and see what develops.
Carb101,
If dental stem cells will provide a cure someday, I am sure that my son will trade one or two of his (adult) molars as he is now 17 toward the same purpose without us having to bank lost teeth that he no longer has.
Cheryl
I totally missed the line that said that molars could also be used. That does make me feel better … if this cure does come to pass, I’m sure Clara would be happy to give up a few molars.
I had heard of this and was talked out of it by our endo who did not think banking baby teeth would work. But having second thoughts, here…endo may not know everything. She still has her wisdom teeth; baby teeth are all gone now. If you investigate this further and it sounds promising, let us know more. Really wish we had banked her cord blood. P.S. Do all kids have wisdom teeth? If so, until the wisdom teeth are removed, wouldn’t you have a natural tooth bank? In other words, you would not need to bank the wisdom teeth unless the dentist told you they had to be removed, hence saving money until the need arose.