Not sure if you are all aware but at SVSA and SFSA we are using stem cells to regrow bone in areas of the mouth devastated by infection and/or injury. Now it seems others are also using it to treat the inside of a tooth that has been infected – hence avoiding the need to a root canal.
Recently scientists are reporting in the current issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine that they are close to developing a new and effective way to treat tooth decay that fully restores the tooth rather than requires it to be filled, capped, or extracted. Stem cells, could prove especially useful in treating the kinds of cavities leading to that most dreaded and painful procedure—the root canal.
The full article, “A novel combinatorial therapy with pulp stem cells and G-CSF for total pulp regeneration,” can be accessed at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23761108.