In May of 2011, a special continuing education class was offered at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. It featured talk of a very hot topic in the medical community – the importance and use of stem cells in the field of oral care.
Included in the course’s objectives was to cover the sources of dental stem cells and how they could be used to further efforts in dental regeneration, as well as what sort of bank system exists today for use in this field.
Just over ten years ago, it was discovered by researchers at the National Institute of Health that the teeth were home to the prized stem cells and this was, to say the least, a very thought provoking discovery.
Since then, studies have been consistently underway to prove the importance of these cells in re-growing bone for jaw correction and treatment of periodontal disease. Even the concept of regenerating teeth is no longer out of reach to professionals in the field.
The specialists heading the continuing education course –Dr. Verlander, molecular geneticist, and Dr. Krasner, leader in the field of Endodontic Surgery — feel that it is absolutely necessary to educate those in the dental community on how these cells can be, and are used to better the practice today and what potential lies ahead for tomorrow.
After all, it will be those who see the patients, day in and day out, that will also have the responsibility of explaining this information to the general public.
For more information on the course and what was covered, keep reading here.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.