Low-Level Lasers Stimulate Stem Cells

A team of scientists from Harvard University has demonstrated that the application of low-power laser light can trigger stem cells in the body to regenerate tissue. Mark Hawver, writing for Tech Times, explained how David J. Mooney, Ph.D., professor of bioengineering, and his team used laser light to trigger human dental stem cells to form dentin. The extraordinary nature of this research is that, if proved successful, this would allow treatment of patients to take place without first removing the stem cells from the body and then replanting them.

The irony here is that medical laser use dates back to the late 1960s. High-power laser light was early found to be destructive to tissue. Only recently have investigators noted the significance of the fact that low-level light therapy results in the stimulation of many body processes. According to Hawver, uncovering how low-level light therapy works at the molecular level helps explain many of the anecdotal observations from previous years and has led to the development of controlled treatment protocols.

Mooney believes this treatment has applications beyond dentistry to wound healing and bone regeneration. Hawver quotes Jonathan Garlick, M.D., director of the Center for Integrated Tissue Engineering at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, who called the research “a powerful proof-of-concept, and that the technique, once fully developed and found to be safe, could be widely used.”

“I think it’s very relevant directly in a variety of different tissues that require stimulation and activation of healing and repair, such as chronic foot ulcers in diabetic patients, bone healing and bone regeneration. I think this has broad applications, ” Garlick said.