They leave some coins or dollars there and wait eagerly for the tooth fairy to show up and take their baby tooth. Many parents retain their children’s first lost tooth, but often we discard the others that follow. If your kids are still small, you might wish to save every lost baby tooth. Doctors and scientists are pushing parents to retain these teeth; the reasons may not be obvious. As it happens, many of those teeth contain stem cells that might later on aid save their life. Illnesses as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and some forms of cancer can be treated with stem cells.

Many of those diagnosed with these conditions must wait a considerable period for a suitable bone marrow donor. However, should your child ever be diagnosed with one of these disorders and you have preserved their baby teeth, the stem cells within can be utilized in treatment to prevent future need for waiting on someone else. Should they require any teeth pulled—such as wisdom teeth—likewise

Those can also be valuable later on; talk about conserving them with the dentist of your child. No parent wants to consider the frightening thought of their child contracting a major illness. However, by acting to protect their baby teeth, one can truly help with therapy later on.