Journal of Dental Medicine

  Background and Aims: In the last decade, several studies have reported the isolation of stem cell population from different dental sources, while their mesenchymal nature is still controversial. The aim of this study was to introduce the isolating methods for stem cells from human dental pulp and to determine their mesenchymal nature before differentiation.

  Material and methods: One of the best sources for stem cell is dental pulp tissue. Dental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) would be the most convenient source of stem cells because teeth were easy to retrieve and removed throughout life. Pulp is a specialized connective tissue including blood and lymph vessels, nerves, and the interstitial fluid. DPSCs can be found within the ‘‘cell rich zone’’ of pulp. DPSCs have been isolated for the first time in 2000 by Gronthos these cells exhibited a differentiation potential for odontoblastic, adipogenic and neural cytotypes. Gronthos isolated stem cells in 2 different methods: The enzymatic digestion method and the second was out growth, these cells could be cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen. It has also been shown that human DPSCs can be used for complex structures such as pulp or woven bone formation in vivo.

  Conclusion: DPSCs originate from the cranial neural crest and have neural characteristics such as the expression of neurotrophins. Therefore, DPSCs may represent a promising source in cell therapy for neurological disorders. Characterization of these cells and determination of their potentialities in terms of specificity of regenerative response will form the foundation for development of new clinical treatment modalities, whether involving directed recruitment of the cells and seeding of stem cells at sites of injury for regeneration or use of the stem cells with appropriate scaffolds for tissue engineering solutions. Such approaches will provide an innovative and novel biologically based on new generation of clinical treatments for dental disease.