Investigation raises concerns over tooth stem cell banking claims

Parents are spending thousands of pounds to bank stem cells from their children’s milk teeth – but the recipient companies’ claims about their future medical value are unproven and potentially misleading, reveals an investigation by The BMJ, published today.

The companies’ claims include that stem cells banked from teeth are already being used in treatments for autism and diabetes. They also highlight current research using stem cells in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and heart attacks.

Tooth stem cell banking involves parents sending their children’s lost milk teeth to a laboratory where the dental pulp stem cells are harvested and stored. The service costs around £1900 (€2189; $2573) with an additional annual storage fee of £95, explains freelance journalist Emma Wilkinson. 

The three companies in the UK offering tooth stem cell banking – Future Health Biobank, BioEden and Stem Protect – all operate through one laboratory. 

Future Health Biobank says on its website that it has released 26 tooth stem cell samples for treatment, including for autism, type 1 diabetes, and knee cartilage regeneration, all to private clinics in North America.

BioEden states it has “already witnessed the remarkable evidence of these ongoing developments” among its own customers, while Stem Protect cites cleft palate repair, sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, severe combined immunodeficiency, and knee cartilage repair under a section of its website headed, ‘What treatments are tooth stem cells used for?’

But several experts are concerned about the claims being made, which they say risk exploiting parents, with the autism treatment promise deemed particularly “outrageous.”

Jill Shepherd, senior lecturer in stem cell biology at the University of Kent, says companies are selling the “potential” for something that is not yet borne out by the science. “There is a lack of evidence and a paucity of research using dental pulp stem cells to treat patients.”

Sufyan Hussain, an investigator on the UK arm of a global clinical trial evaluating stem cell therapy for type 1 diabetes, also has concerns about what is being promised. “At present, there isn’t a definitive answer regarding the optimal source of stem cells for future diabetes therapies,” he says.

Tim Nicholls, assistant director of policy, research and strategy at the National Autistic Society in the UK, adds: “It’s outrageous that tooth stem cell procedures are being advertised to parents with the false claim of ‘treating’ autism.

“Autism is not a disease or illness, it cannot be treated and there is no cure. It is dangerous and morally bankrupt to target potentially vulnerable people with expensive procedures that could, in fact, cause harm.”

Experts are also concerned about the lack of independent information on tooth stem cell banking to help consumers make a fully informed choice, and say more oversight is needed of the information being used to promote the practice. 

Jill Shepherd also believes parents should be given more information on what type of tests are done to validate that stem cells are present in the stored samples, that the samples have been collected properly, and the evidence on how long such samples can be viably stored.

The BMJ has raised several concerns about how the service is promoted on all three company websites with the Advertising Standards Agency, which it says it will review.

In response, Future Health Biobank says it is reviewing how information on its site is presented to ensure “readers can clearly distinguish between client experiences and formally published clinical outcomes.” 

The company also says it has a “robust, ongoing, storage stability validation programme” with quality control testing to ensure that there is no deterioration in the integrity, viability or future potential of biological samples.”