Deciduous Teeth Stem Cell Banking Under the Spotlight
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- Published: Thursday, 28 August 2025 09:28
- Written by Peter Ingle
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GDPUK readers may be familiar with the claims made about stem cell banking using children‘s primary teeth. Some parents are already spending thousands of pounds to do this for their children, often persuaded by the claims about their future medical value, made by the companies providing the service.
A recent investigation by The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has found that some of those claims are unproved and potentially misleading.
There are three UK companies advertising primary tooth banking services, and they say that that these teeth are a “valuable” source of stem cells, with the ability to repair tissue cells throughout the body. The companies point to current research using stem cells in multiple sclerosis, myocardial infarction, and Parkinson’s disease.
Further claims include that these stem cells are already being used in treatments for autism and diabetes.
But speaking to the BMJ, experts have said that they are concerned about the claims being made. There is a risk of exploiting concerned parents, and the promise of a treatment for autism was considered particularly dubious.
Whilst three companies offer the service in the UK, they all work with the same laboratory. Further, although it has different branding and an individual website, one is wholly owned by another.
Tooth stem cell banking is also known as dental pulp cell banking. The procedure is that parents collect and send exfoliated primary teeth to a laboratory where the dental pulp is “digested” and the cells cultured until “a sufficient number of stem cells are present.” They are harvested, counted, and subjected to “viability and sterility” testing, before being cryopreserved.
Consumers sign an agreement before being sent a collection kit when their child’s tooth becomes loose. There is an initial fee typically of about £1900, and then additional storage fees of £95 each year.
In regard to the claim of a “cure” for diabetes, Jill Shepherd, senior lecturer in stem cell biology at the University of Kent, said there was insufficient evidence to suggest that stem cells from teeth should be banked for autologous use. She pointed out that companies are selling the “potential” for something that is not yet borne out by the science.
A spokesperson for the charity Diabetes UK said, “Much more research is needed before we recommend people engage with commercial companies who are banking stem cells.”
However it is the inclusion of autism in the list of conditions with potential for stem cell treatment that has been most controversial. Tim Nicholls, assistant director of policy, research, and strategy at the National Autistic Society, said, “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.”
He believed parents should be given more information. On a practical note he was not alone in raising questions about 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 on how long such samples can be viably stored.
Responding to the BMJ, Future Health Biobank which owns two of the UK brands and handles all the logistics and banking of sample cells for the third, said it is looking at how information on its site is presented in order to ensure “readers can clearly distinguish between client experiences and formally published clinical outcomes.”
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