Stem cells in dentistry, sources, and applications

Stem cells (SCs), known as cells with characteristics such as self-renewal and multilineage differentiation, are generally obtained from two sources: Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and adult stem cells (ASCs). SC research is expected to play a pivotal role in future medicine. The aim of the present review was to introduce dental and nondental SCs, examining the general characteristics, in vivo and in vitro differentiation capacities, immunosuppressive properties as well as the application of SCs in dentistry and regenerative medicine.
In October 2015, PubMed, Scopus were searched by experienced researchers with the query "stem cells and dentistry "and a focus on SC and dental journals.
In the field of dentistry, ASCs, isolated from different structures, are divided into different subpopulations: Dental SCs, population of SCs isolated from different components of immature and mature teeth and nondental SCs, and those isolated from oromaxillofacial tissues.
It appears that dental and nondental SCs are popular resources of SCs because of easier accessibility and fewer ethical problems. In addition, they have a high differentiation capacity into different cell lineages. Different studies have introduced dental and nondental SCs as suitable SC sources for SC therapy in dentistry and regenerative medicine.