For Immediate Release:
Contacts: Marianthi Bumbaris
(312) 337-2169, ext. 27
mbumbaris@aapd.org
Tara Weintraub
(312) 240-2861
tara.weintraub@edelman.com
DATE: May 19, 2008
2008 AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRIC
DENTISTRY ANNUAL SESSION HIGHLIGHTS
EMERGING SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENTS
Pediatric Dentists Discuss the Potential of Saliva Diagnostics
and Dental Pulp Stem Cells in Advancing Pediatric Dental Care
Washington, D.C., May 19, 2008 – The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
(AAPD), the recognized leader in pediatric oral health, is holding its 61st Annual Session
this week in Washington, D.C. during which leading oral health experts from across the
globe will discuss the latest advancements and research in pediatric oral health.
Two areas in which the pediatric dentistry community sees great potential in caring for
children’s teeth and addressing related systemic health issues include utilizing saliva to
diagnose health and disease states and using dental stem cells for dental and facial
repair and regeneration.
“These advances in dentistry are able to help us continue to address the systemic health
issues that can result from dental care problems,” said Dr. Keith Morley, president of the
AAPD. “These capabilities may help pediatric dentists further reduce the burden of
tooth decay — a major epidemic in children.”
Saliva Diagnostics
While saliva for clinical utilization is still a few years away, studies have shown that
almost anything that can be measured in blood can be measured in saliva. According to
researcher and meeting presenter David T. W. Wong, D.M.D., D.M.Sc., School of
Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, the University of California, Los Angeles, saliva
diagnostics may create the possibility of developing new ways of detecting and
diagnosing health and disease states.
Additionally, testing saliva is minimally invasive and provides the ability to obtain
quick and reliable results, even in remote settings. This ease of testing presents a great
opportunity for pediatric dentists to both detect issues and start treatment earlier in
more children. For example, dentists could more easily identify a child’s susceptibility to
caries (cavities) and begin fluoride treatments sooner and more often to prevent the
leading childhood chronic disease, tooth decay.
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Dental Stem Cells
Stem cell technology is showing great potential in medicine and is an emerging field of
study in pediatric dentistry. Stem cells found in primary (baby) teeth offer promise in
craniofacial repair and regeneration and repair of dental pulp tissue.
According to researcher and meeting presenter Dr. Jacques Nör, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S.,
Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics, University of
Michigan, laboratory research has demonstrated that stem cells from primary teeth can
be used to regenerate dental pulps of permanent teeth in mice. This could be critical to
long-term oral health since it may allow us to restore the viability of immature
permanent teeth that have become necrotic (dead) due to caries or trauma. Combined
with tissue engineering techniques, it is possible that dental stem cells may be used to
engineer a complete tooth one day.
Additionally, while most research into dental stem cells has focused on growing other
dental tissues, researchers see potential for growing more tissue types for therapeutic
use in the future.
For additional information and to speak with Dr. Wong, Dr. Nör or Dr. Morley, please
contact Tara Weintraub at 312-240-2861 or tara.weintraub@edelman.com.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
Founded in 1947, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) is a not-for-profit
membership association representing the specialty of pediatric dentistry. The AAPD’s 7,300
members are primary oral health care providers who offer comprehensive specialty treatment for
millions of infants, children, adolescents, and individuals with special health care needs. The
AAPD also represents general dentists who treat a significant number of children in their
practices. As advocates for children’s oral health, the AAPD develops and promotes evidencebased policies and guidelines, fosters research, contributes to scholarly work concerning pediatric
oral health, and educates health care providers, policymakers, and the public on ways to improve
children’s oral health. For further information, please visit the AAPD Web site at www.aapd.org.
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