Discovering Dental Stem Cell Research
Our team at Eureka Dental Group is known for industry-leading technology and techniques. In order to provide our patients with the most advanced dental care in the region, we stay current with exciting research within our field. Our hope is to follow the science from breakthrough to clinical trials, and be ready to share in our practice.
In parallel with advancements in medicine and biology, dental research is now operating at the molecular level. Recently, a team of researchers discovered what may be a profound stem cell breakthrough. Led by David Mooney, a Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard, researchers used low-level light therapy (LLLT), a decades-old technique using laser light, to trigger dental stem cells to form dentin. Dentin is the hard, bone-like tissue that forms the majority of each tooth.
The challenge for researchers was to precisely manipulate the chemical “domino chain” so that the treatment had a regenerative effect instead of a destructive one. The team achieved success in both culture-based experiments and on actual teeth.
The success of the large collaboration between Harvard and government researchers is being hailed as an incredible leap forward for all medical science.
Conventional stem cell treatments involve isolating stem cells in a patient, removing them and manipulating them in a laboratory, and then returning them into the patient. Dr. Mooney’s team has discovered a simple, noninvasive approach which uses common, industry-accepted laser technology. Given those three truths, our team at Eureka Dental is excited to see an expedited bridge from concept to chairside technology.
One thing is certain: the future of dental science is as bright as our patients’ smiles!
Additional source: seas.harvard.edu