When I was a kid, I got a quarter for each tooth stashed carefully under my pillow as an offering to the tooth fairy. I always suspected I was getting ripped off since my friends were getting dollars. As a result, I had a little heart-to-heart with the tooth fairy and my kids seem to receive a variety of things, anything from a beautiful (er, "magic") stone to a postcard to fairy dust to a book to a pencil that said "Colorado" (the night the tooth fairy had to hit up a hotel gift shop).
But scientists are now saying parents should have their kids' baby teeth pulled by a dentist when they are loose rather than waiting for them to fall out. Because it could later save your kid's life.
Stem cells, baby, it's all about the stem cells. Dental stem cells can be harvested, expanded, and banked for future use. It's best done in a dentist's office when the tooth is wiggly but before it's hanging by a thread. Then a few stem cells are extracted and allowed to multiply until there's a few million available to bank for future use against things like Lou Gehrig's Disease, deafness, Parkinson's Disease, and lupus. The procedure costs about $1200 and there are annual maintenance fees.
Who knew baby teeth were such a viable commodity? Do you think the tooth fairy will be out of business one day?
