Concise reviews: Characteristics and potential applications of human dental tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Recently, numerous types of human dental tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been isolated and characterized, including dental pulp stem cells, stem cells from exfoliated deciduous teeth, periodontal ligament stem cells, dental follicle progenitor cells, alveolar bone-derived MSCs, stem cells from apical papilla, tooth germ progenitor cells, and gingival MSCs. All these MSC-like cells exhibit self-renewal, multilineage differentiation potential, and immunomodulatory properties. Several studies have demonstrated the potential advantages of dental stem cell-based approaches for regenerative treatments and immunotherapies. This review outlines the properties of various dental MSC-like populations and the progress toward their use in regenerative therapy. Several dental stem cell banks worldwide are also introduced, with a view toward future clinical application.