Why Parents Should Save Their Child’s Baby Teeth
Scientists and doctors are urging parents to save their child’s baby teeth. The amount of stem cells present in their teeth could possibly save their lives in the future.
Stem cells are widely used to treat diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and bone cancers, such a leukemia. The stem cells in your child’s baby teeth could be used to create bone marrow that’s much more likely to be accepted by your child’s body . You have to have a compatible bone marrow donor to treat these and other medical conditions. In most cases you have to wait a long period of time to find a donor for treatment that is a bone marrow match. Having the teeth avoids the wait. Any teeth that are pulled, including wisdom, are beneficial for banking.
Many parents choose to save their children’s baby teeth as mementos. Some choose to just toss them in the trash. I am one of those that wanted to keep my boys teeth for keepsakes and have these adorable containers to store them found HERE. Then there are others that save the teeth for stem cell use, which I definitely would have considered if I had known about it back then. Allow a dentist to handle the teeth if you are banking the tooth for stem cells.
We would love to hear from those of you that have decided to save your child’s teeth.
I kept every single tooth he lost on his own. About 7 and he is 12. Now I really appreciate keeping them but hopefully never have to use them.
It’s a great idea but the cost is prohibitive for the average person/family.
I have kept all out children’s teeth…generally because I’ve found them in my dressing gown from a night of toothfairying and couldn’t part with them, so maybe I’ve done the right thing in the end!
I always saved them but with 4 children I couldn’t tell you which tooth was who’s. Lol
I kept my daughter’s baby teeth. She’s 38 years old. Has it been too long? She was recently diagnosed with cancer.
Agree completely. My father queried why we would bother brushing our children’s teeth as they “ will only fall out”. We were appalled and this from parents who wore dentures. Even our teeth could have been better if our parents were more enlightened about baby teeth as templates for permanent teeth, brushing and minimising sticky sugary foods and promoting a healthy diet.
Not entirely blaming them, they would have been exposed to their parents fatalistic attitudes regarding teeth.