Using Laser Therapy after Tooth Extraction to Improve Wound Healing

An interesting article titled “Does laser therapy improve the wound healing process after tooth extraction? A systematic review” written by Lemes et al., was published online on October 15, 2018 in Wound Repair and Regeneration. The authors sought out to review research on using laser therapy after tooth extraction to improve oral wound healing. It is believed that laser therapy could increase the oral wound healing process by stimulating cell regeneration, attenuating pain, and modulating the immune system. The researchers were motivated because using lasers to accelerate wound healing after tooth extraction has remained controversial.  The researchers performed a systematic review to assess the best evidence that could show whether laser therapy was beneficial for wound healing after tooth extraction or if it had no merits. The review was carried out by three researchers who used eight databases including: MedLine (PubMed), The … Read more

Stem Cells Can Help Fight Inflammatory Disease

A recent study shows that stem cells found in mouth tissue can help relieve inflammatory disease. The stem cells studied are gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSC) which are found in gum tissue in the mouth. Similarly to other types of stems cells, GMCS develop into cells that effect the immune system. The study found two differet types of GMSC: those that arise from the mesoderm layer of cells during embryonic development (M-GMSC) and those that come from cranial neural crest cells (N-GMSC).  The two types of stem cells vary substantially in their benefits. N-GMSC was found to be easier to change into other cells include neural and cartilage-producing cells. N-GMSC was found to have more of a healing effect on inflammatory disease. When the researchers transplanted N-GMSC into mice with dextrate sulfate sodium-induced colitis, which is an inflamed condition of … Read more