Michael Fulbright, DDS, co-founder of Aesthetic Edge in Redondo Beach, is among the first dentists in the nation to offer a new service that recovers and preserves powerful dental stem cells. Only recently have regenerative medical researchers looked to human teeth as ideal sources for stem cells, which are widely used in treating leukemia and heart disease.

Until now, stem cells could only be retrieved from umbilical cord blood, amniotic fluid and bone marrow    According to Fulbright, dental stem cells are found only in healthy teeth (those with a blood supply) such as wisdom teeth and those that must be pulled for orthodontic work. He said that young patients, in particular, are excellent candidates for banking their stem cells since they are usually undergoing such extractions.