Has anyone looked at storing stem cells from milk teeth?

[virgiltracey]

For DS2 we have stored the stem cells from the cord blood but with DS1 (first child) we were too busy with nursery, pushchairs and other baby kit to even really be aware of stem cell storage.

We've now had a booklet through from the stem cell storage company saying that they can now extract stem cells from milk teeth which is good timing since DS1 is starting to lose his. They only need one. Has anyone else looked into this/done this? DS1(6) heard DH and I discussing it this morning and became quite concerned about the fact that the tooth fairy wouldn't know where his tooth was

[virgiltracey]

bump

[phonix]

I have looked into it recently, but didn't find it remotely as advanced as cord blood collection/storage, yet they charge the same if not more. If I remember correctly so far this science is based on clinical research only. On the other hand, I liked the fact that you get more than one chances to collect if one tooth doesn't contain enough cells. In the end we decided to collect cord blood which unfortunately didn't have a happy ending and only caused us distress, so one day we will probably revisit the idea of storing stem cells from milk teeth.

[thermosflask]

I didn't even know this was possible.
How much does it cost and what is involved? Do you just send the tooth off to a lab?

I'm very interested and would be grateful if you could post some more information. Thankyou.

[virgiltracey]

The company is coming back to me with the cost and so I will post and let you know. You literally get sent a kit to put the tooth into as soon as it comes out and you send it off. job done. Sounds far simpler than the cord blood collection which was not aided by the fact that DS2 arrived at 3 in the morning!

Still feeling a bit guilty about the fact that we have DS2's stem cells storedand not DS1s and so we will probably go ahead unless we discover that there is some sort of problem with it.

[virgiltracey]

Oops sorry DH tells me that we've already had the call back about the cost. £1046. £195 deposit for the collection kit and then the rest payable upon successful harvest of the cells.

[brambleschooks]

We looked into this for ds and found the ongoing costs prohibitive. Plus we had a long chat with my cousin, a consultant pediatric autoimmune specialist who was most scathing about it. He felt that the companies were making money out of fear.

[virgiltracey]

Update, we went ahead and now have stem cells stored for DS1 (following on from tooth extraction trauma from different thread)! Of course we hope that we will never have to use them but we now have stem cells for both DCs and the cost works out at less than £4 a month.

[Supertiredmummy100]

Hi! Could I ask where you stored the teeth? I've started looking into this and would be happy for any advice x