Dental

Abstract

Regenerative medicine and dentistry are two rapidly growing fields of research with important clinical implications. Recent advances in cell biology, biotechnology, material science and tissue transplantation have been translated into new approaches to clinical repair and replacement of tissues and organs. In dentistry, different regenerative therapies and materials have been in clinical use for many years, to repair small and large defects involving multiple tissue types. Currently, various strategies are applied to stimulate healing of bone defects and to restore lost maxillofacial bone and periodontal support following traumatic insult, tumor ablation, diseases or congenital deformities. Bone tissue engineering is an emerging concept whereby bone-forming cells are seeded onto synthetic scaffolds to form hybrid constructs that can be used to regenerate tissues. There are numerous published case reports of the application of bone tissue engineering for oral and maxillofacial surgical reconstruction, periodontal tissue regeneration and sinus floor augmentation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are currently the cells of choice for bone tissue engineering and can be isolated from many different tissues as bone marrow, periosteum, trabecular bone and also from muscle, adipose tissue and synovial membrane. MSCs have also been found in cells derived from human umbilical cord: in vivo, these cells have demonstrated that they are capable of osteogenic differentiation, leading to bone formation and in vitro have shown adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic differentiation. Further, MSCs have been identified in periodontal ligament, deciduous and permanent molar teeth. Recent research has shown that these cells have promising regenerative potential. To conclude, stem cell based bone tissue engineering is a promising concept for reconstruction/regeneration of craniofacial defects. However, much work remains before this approach can be routinely applied in the clinical setting.