Mesenchymal Stem Cells as New Candidates for Stemcell Based Dental Therapies

Project Report from the year 2018 in the subject Medicine - Medical Frontiers and Special Areas, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: This paper will provide a comprehensive review on the origin and types of MSCs in the dental tissue and the oral cavity. It will also discuss their therapeutic mechanisms that make them useful in dentistry and dental treatments.

Over the past few decades, stem cell research has gained extensive scientific inquiry. This aspect is attributable to the significance of stem cells in tissue engineering. It is apparent that tissue regeneration has emerged as a reliable medical approach for the treatment of tissue disorders and injuries. Initially, embryonic stem cells were preferred as candidates for regenerative medicine because these cells can be induced to replicate in a pluripotent state. However, stem cell research involving embryonic stem cells has attracted immense controversy. It is also associated with legal and ethical issues, thus limiting the use of embryonic stem cells in regenerative medicine.

Fortunately, the discovery of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), also referred to as adult stem cells, has restored promise for the development of stem cell therapies. Unlike embryonic stem cells, MSCs are free from legal and ethical concerns. MSCs are usually pluripotent progenitor cells that are generated in an array of tissues in both foetal and adult life. It is reported that these progenitor cells differentiate into cell types of the tissues that generate them, although studies indicate that they can differentiate cell types of other tissues. Currently, MSCs are used for regenerative therapies for a number of tissue disorders and injuries including bone regeneration. For instance, MSCs generated by the dental pulps and the oral cavity tissues have been found to possess the potential for dental tissue regeneration. These cells have also been found to useful in non-dental tissue repair.