The potential use of cell-based therapies in the treatment of oral diseases

A recent and exciting development in medicine is the use of living cells for patient treatment. The utility of living cells to treat diseases was first proved in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for leukemia patients. This approach has been expanded for other diseases such as islet transplantation for diabetic patients. In those cases, the cells were isolated from donors or the patient and used without complex manipulation. Since the 1980s, cells have been expanded outside of the body for the treatment of burn patients' skin. This novel treatment strategy is designated tissue engineering' and has been successfully applied for treatment of skin, cartilage, and also bone defects. Due to the recent developments in stem cell science, this area has attracted much attention and the application has been expanding. In this review, the potential of cell-based therapy for oral diseases is discussed with a concise review of recent developments in this field.