GMS Dental Centers of Excellence & StemSave Offer Houstonians the
Promise of Stem Cells
Stem Cells from baby teeth and wisdom teeth are a non-controversial
source of powerful stem cells
HOUSTON & PHOENIX (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) May 19, 2008 --
Today a leading Houston dental practice management company announced
that it will begin offering patients the opportunity to secure and store
stem cells contained in teeth through its affiliated GMS
Dental Centers of Excellence. After studying National
Institutes of Health research that discovered potent stem cells in
teeth and after reviewing hundreds
of follow-up studies at universities around the world, all five GMS
Dental Centers of Excellence in the Greater Houston area are now
offering stem cell storage to patients. Partnering with StemSave™,
Inc., a provider of convenient and affordable stem cell
cryopreservation, GMS affiliated dental centers will enable their
patients in the Houston area to benefit from emerging advances in
personalized and regenerative medical treatments. Medical research shows
potential for a patient’s own stem cells to be
made into treatments for a wide range of diseases, including Parkinson’s
disease, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis and multiple
sclerosis.
“Dentists are continually studying new
developments in dental and medical care that may benefit our patients
and their families,” said Tim Farrell, DDS, a
dentist at GMS’ North Loop Office in Houston. “I
love telling my patients that we are offering the opportunity to benefit
from the promise of non-embryonic stem cell medical advances by saving
their own stem cells today. Some are surprised to hear that dentists
play such an important role in providing access to future medical
treatments.”
Adult stem
cells are found in everyone from the newborn to the elderly. They
are stored in reservoirs around our bodies and they drive our natural
healing processes. Adult stem cells are early-stage, non-specific cells
with the unique ability to replicate and grow into a wide range of
specific cells – bone, muscle, or organ tissue –
when we are sick or injured. Adult stem cells were first identified in
the 1960s and, after 40 years of medical research on adult stem cells,
scientists are learning more about harnessing the power of and directing
the growth of these stem cells to benefit patients. Today, dozens of new
medical treatments derived from adult stem cells are being tested in
clinical trials with human volunteers.
“StemSave is a unique collaboration between
top stem cell
researchers and the dental community to develop a safe, affordable,
and simple way for patients – young and old –
to collect and preserve their stem cells for a lifetime,”
said StemSave’s President, Dr.
Gregory Chotkowski. “Most people are
already aware of the benefits of saving highly-valued cells today for
future use; they've been doing so for years with eggs, sperm, and
umbilical cord blood. Now, after the discovery of powerful stem cells in
teeth, StemSave offers families the opportunity to benefit from their
own stem cells with new
medical treatments as they become available."
“After reviewing several options for
collecting our patients’ stem cells, we
quickly concluded that StemSave offers the greatest protection,
reliability, convenience, and involvement of stem cell researchers, all
elements that are important to GMS Dental and its affiliated dental
centers,” said Grant Sadler, CEO of GMS
Dental. “We studied the research on dental
stem cells and felt a sense of urgency to offer our patients an
affordable and convenient way to store their families’
stem cells. For over 20 years, GMS affiliated dental centers continue to
offer the latest advances in dental care, and now, by offering StemSave,
we help ensure our patients can participate in the latest advances in
health care.”
Sadler continued, “With the recent
announcement that the Department of Defense will spearhead a $250
million national effort to rapidly apply and fast track the latest
techniques in tissue engineering and regenerative
medicine to the treatment of injury and trauma to members of our
Armed forces wounded in action, we feel that new medical technologies
using stem cells developed by the DOD will translate rapidly to the
civilian population making broad based stem cell therapies a reality in
the very near future.”
Dr. Michael Fuentes, an oral surgeon added, "While our dentists at GMS
affiliated dental centers are thrilled to offer our patients the
opportunity to store their stem cells, we are also inspired by the
motivation of StemSave’s founder and
President, Dr. Greg Chotkowski who is also an oral surgeon. Dr.
Chotkowski’s son suffers from Muscular
Dystrophy, a disease that may be treatable with stem cells in the years
ahead. As a parent whose child is suffering from a debilitating disease,
Dr. Chotkowski wants to provide every family with the option of
convenient and affordable access to new stem cell-derived medical
treatments in the years ahead.”
About GMS Dental Centers of Excellence
Providing dental care to patients in Houston since 1985, GMS Dental
manages five Dental Centers of Excellence. For the complete treatment
and convenience of patients and their families, GMS affiliated dental
centers offer all aspects of general dentistry: preventive, restorative,
crown and bridge, and all dental specialties, including Orthodontics
(straightening teeth), Periodontics (gum treatment), Endodontics (root
canal treatment), Oral Surgery and Implants with extended hours,
reasonable fees and financing options for those patients that desire it.
Visit us at www.gmsdent.com
About StemSave, Inc.
StemSave, Inc. is a collaborative effort between top stem cell
researchers and the dental health community to provide families with the
opportunity to collect and preserve the powerful and valuable stem cells
that are contained within baby teeth, wisdom teeth, permanent teeth and
other oral tissues. StemSave is uniquely designed to be affordable and
accessible to patients and their families. Patients register online at www.StemSave.com,
stem cells are then collected by their dentist during many routine
dental procedures, and the dental office ships the patient’s
stem cells to StemSave lab where the cells are carefully processed and
tested for viability before they are cryopreserved. For more information
on StemSave and the latest developments in dental stem cell research,
please visit www.StemSave.com.
Release Summary:
Houston dentists at GMS Dental partner with StemSave to secure and store
patient stem cells from teeth; easily accessible adult stem cells that
demonstrate the power to become many types of cells.
KEYWORDS: adult stem cells, benefits of stem cell research,
dental, gms dental, personalized medicine, regenerative medicine, stem
cell research, stem cells, stem cells research, stemsave, types of stem
cells, what are stem cells, what is stem cell research
MULTIMEDIA GALLERY http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=5689150
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