BOSTON, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- National Dental Pulp Laboratory today announced their participation in the First International Conference on Dental and Craniofacial Stem Cells. On April 27-29, 2011 Columbia University will host leading scientists and researchers at the New York Academy of Sciences. This is an unprecedented opportunity for those individuals who are helping to advance the field of dental and craniofacial stem cells to share information and research that will lead to the eventual clinical use of these regenerative cells.

Representing the National Dental Pulp Laboratory at this conference are Dr. Grace Centola, PhD, H.C.L.D. (ABB) and Dr. Willie Stephens, DDS. Dr. Centola has been the Laboratory and Tissue Bank Director at New England Cryogenic Center (NECC), parent company of National Dental Pulp Laboratory (NDPL) since 2001.  Dr. Centola received a B.S. in Biology from Utica College of Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in Anatomy from Georgetown University. She has served on the faculty at the Michener Institute for Applied Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, SUNY Health Sciences Center, University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, and the University of Maryland. She is the author of numerous articles in leading medical and scientific journals. Dr. Stephens has recently been appointed as NECC Medical Director for National Dental Pulp Laboratory.  Dr. Stephens graduated from the University Of California School Of Dentistry. He completed his Internship and Residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He later became the Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco.  He recently resigned his position as Associate Surgeon at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Assistant in OMS at Massachusetts General Hospital to pursue full time private practice. Dr. Stephens has extensive experience in multi-unit implant cases, bone grafting, full and partial jaw reconstruction, facial trauma surgery and TMJ.

About National Dental Pulp Laboratory

National Dental Pulp Laboratory (NDPL) www.ndpl.net was launched in 2007, and is a subsidiary of New England Cryogenic Center and sister company to New England Cord Blood Bank. NDPL began processing and storing dental pulp soon after the stem cells found within that pulp were first discovered at the National Institutes of Health. NDPL provides an opportunity for consumers to save a unique stem cell for their own future use. As an international leader in cryopreservation, NECC has been processing and banking tissue and stem cells since 1971. The development of the NDPL program was a natural extension of this company's expertise in fertility banking and cord blood banking.

About Dental Pulp Stem Cells

Dental pulp is the soft living tissue inside a tooth. Stem cells are found inside the dental pulp. Dental pulp stem cells retain the ability to renew themselves by dividing and can change into many specialized cells. The future holds great promise for the use of these cells to repair and regenerate damaged tissue in the body.  The ideal opportunity to harvest dental stem cells occurs when children and young adults are losing their deciduous (baby) teeth either thorough natural exfoliation, extraction for orthodontia or when wisdom teeth are extracted.

Dental pulp stem cells can be harvested without controversy, in an inexpensive, non-invasive manner, unlike bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell collection. These cells are being studied in many clinical settings for the future treatment of  Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, Type 1 Diabetes, as well as brain and cardiac injury.

For more information on harvesting and preserving dental stem cells for private banking contact The National Dental Pulp Laboratory at 800-991-4991 or www.ndpl.net.

SOURCE National Dental Pulp Laboratory