Did you know that keeping your kids baby teeth can save their life? I certainly didn’t, until now.
My husband would often want to keep our kids baby teeth in a jar…I thought that was SUPER creepy (it’s up there with keeping an umbilical cord or foreskin am I correct? – don’t pretend you didn’t know that wasn’t a thing either – ew). Anyway, it turns out, my husbands instincts were correct! Not only is it not weird to save your childs teeth, it can actually potentially help to save their lives! I’m sorry Miss Tooth Fairy, but it seems you may be out of a job! Research from the United States National Centre for Biotechnology Information has discovered that baby teeth can often hold lifesaving stem cells that could be used to help in a myriad of medical procedures and even injuries.
Did you know that Stem cells have the ability to become any cell in the body? Crazy right?! This means that scientists can help determine the cell’s purpose so they can do mind blowing things like fight cancer, help regrow bones, treat diabetes, regenerate the liver, reproduce eye tissue and even assist with preventing heart attacks.
Currently, scientists harvest stem cells through bone marrow which is often difficult to access, but thanks to this new amazing research, we now know that baby teeth are loaded with bone marrow, which now makes it a much easier way for scientists to access this potent type of biological information.
While many of these treatments are still in trial phases, harvesting stem cells from baby teeth will most likely become commonplace in the future.
So hang on to those baby teeth. One day your kids may need the precious cells contained inside.
Have some fun whilst you’re here too, check out some of our activities for kids below:
