The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is an articulation formed between the temporal bone and the mandibular condyle which is commonly affected. These affections are often so painful during fundamental oral activities that patients have lower quality of life. Limitations of therapeutics for severe TMJ diseases have led to increased interest in regenerative strategies combining stem cells, implantable scaffolds and well-targeting bioactive molecules. To succeed in functional and structural regeneration of TMJ is very challenging. Innovative strategies and biomaterials are absolutely crucial because TMJ can be considered as one of the most difficult tissues to regenerate due to its limited healing capacity, its unique histological and structural properties and the necessity for long-term prevention of its ossified or fibrous adhesions. The ideal approach for TMJ regeneration is a unique scaffold functionalized with an osteochondral molecular gradient containing a single stem cell population able to undergo osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation such as BMSCs, ADSCs or DPSCs. The key for this complex regeneration is the functionalization with active molecules such as IGF-1, TGF-β1 or bFGF. This regeneration can be optimized by nano/micro-assisted functionalization and by spatiotemporal drug delivery systems orchestrating the 3D formation of TMJ tissues.

This review encompasses different pre-clinical bioengineering approaches for periodontal tissues, maxillary jaw bone, and the entire tooth. Moreover, it sheds light on their potential clinical therapeutic applications in the field of regenerative medicine. Herein, the electrospinning method for the synthesis of polycaprolactone (PCL) membranes, that are capable of mimicking the extracellular matrix (ECM), has been described. Furthermore, their functionalization with cyclosporine A (CsA), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), or anti-inflammatory drugs’ nanoreservoirs has been demonstrated to induce a localized and targeted action of these molecules after implantation in the maxillary jaw bone. Firstly, periodontal wound healing has been studied in an induced periodontal lesion in mice using an ibuprofen-functionalized PCL membrane. Thereafter, the kinetics of maxillary bone regeneration in a pre-clinical mouse model of surgical bone lesion treated with BMP-2 or BMP-2/Ibuprofen functionalized PCL membranes have been analyzed by histology, immunology, and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Furthermore, the achievement of innervation in bioengineered teeth has also been demonstrated after the co-implantation of cultured dental cell reassociations with a trigeminal ganglia (TG) and the cyclosporine A (CsA)-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffold in the jaw bone. The prospective clinical applications of these different tissue engineering approaches could be instrumental in the treatment of various periodontal diseases, congenital dental or cranio-facial bone anomalies, and post-surgical complications.