Banking baby teeth: companies may be misleading parents with “outrageous claims”

Parents are spending thousands of pounds to bank stem cells from their children’s milk teeth—but the recipient companies’ claims about their future medical value are unproved and potentially misleading, an investigation by The BMJ has found.

The three UK companies advertising tooth banking services tell parents that milk teeth are a “valuable” source of stem cells, with the ability to repair tissue cells throughout the body. Their claims include that these stem cells are already being used in treatments for autism and diabetes. They also point to current research using stem cells in multiple sclerosis, myocardial infarction, and Parkinson’s disease.

But several experts have told The BMJ that they are concerned about the claims being made, which risk exploiting parents—with the promise of a treatment for autism deemed particularly outrageous.

The BMJ found that the three companies in the UK offering tooth stem cell banking—BioEden, Future Health Biobank, and Stem Project—all operate through one laboratory. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) says it will review concerns we have raised about how the service is promoted on their websites.

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Source: The BMJ, 20 August 2025