Dental Tissue Regeneration – A Mini-Review

Abstract

Background: With today’s 21st century technological advancements, it is expected that individuals will either retain their natural teeth or obtain functional tooth replacements throughout their entire life. Modern dental therapies for the replacement of missing teeth largely utilize partial or complete dentures and titanium implants capped with prosthetic crowns. Although these prostheses serve a purpose, they are not equivalent, neither in function nor aesthetics, to natural teeth. Recent progress in dental tissue engineering has lent significant credibility to the concept that biological replacement teeth therapies may soon be available to replace missing teeth. Objective: In this review, we summarize the emerging concepts of whole-tooth replacement strategies, using postnatal dental stem cells (DSCs) and dental tissue engineering approaches. Methods: We provide a thorough and extensive review of the literature. Results: Current approaches to achieve clinically relevant biological replacement tooth therapies rely on the cultivation of DSCs capable of relaying odontogenic induction signals, through dental epithelial-mesenchymal cell interactions. DSC expansion and differentiation can be achieved by programming progenitor stem cells to adopt dental lineages, using instructive, bioengineered scaffold materials. Periodontal ligament regeneration in particular has demonstrated significant progress recently, despite the somewhat unpredictable clinical outcomes, with regard to its capacity to augment conventional metallic dental implants and as an important component for whole-tooth tissue engineering. Following recent advances made in DSC and tissue engineering research, various research groups are in the midst of performing ‘proof of principle’ experiments for whole-tooth regeneration, with associated functional periodontal tissues. This mini-review focuses on recent and promising developments in the fields of pulp and periodontal tissue DSCs that are of particular relevance for dental tissue and whole-tooth regeneration. Conclusion: Continued advances in the derivation of useable DSC populations and optimally designed scaffold materials unequivocally support the feasibility of dental tissue and whole-tooth tissue engineering.

Hard Tissue Augmentation of Aged Bone by Means of a Tin-Free PLLA-PCL Co-Polymer Exhibiting in vivo Anergy and Long-Term Structural Stability

“…Reconstructive strategies not only stipulate careful selection and planning of surgical procedures and techniques, but also frequently make use of implants or include the incorporation of biomaterials, for instance in the oral cavity [7, 8]. High demands are material geometrical shape, primarily because filling the space by replacing lost tissues within the patient’s body optimally is key.…”

Enumeration and Characterization of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Agedependent Human Dental Tissue

“…The role of MSCs in periodontitis has also been explored through various reports [3][4][5]. Specifically, in the older age group-chronic [6] and younger age group-aggressive periodontitis [7] (CP and AP respectively) patients need regeneration of soft and hard tissue like periodontal ligament, gingiva, cementum and alveolar bone.…”

Aislación y Caracterización de Células Madre Mesenquimales Provenientes de Pulpa y Folículo Dentario Humano

“…Estas células pueden ser aisladas principalmente de médula ósea, cordón umbilical y tejido adiposo. Se han hecho proliferar en cultivos in vitro, lo que ha permitido estudiar algunas de sus propiedades funcionales (Friedlander, 2009;Saber, 2009;Petrovic & Stefanovic, 2009;Yen & Yelick, 2011). Aunque el tema en torno a su variada utilización todavía mantiene algunas interrogantes, su estudio contempla uno de los campos de la investigación más activos en el ultimo tiempo (Kenneth, 2012;Sunil et al, 2012).…”

“…Su utilidad radica tanto en su fácil obtención y extenso potencial terapéutico, que poseen gracias a su plasticidad. Esta última característica les permite formar células de linaje diferente a su origen, (Yen & Yelick, 2011). Han podido ser aisladas, cultivadas y caracterizadas de diversos tejidos, dentro de los cuales se incluyen tejidos bucodentarios (Friedlander, Mitrano et al, 2010, Thomson & Kahler, 2010,Yen & Yelick, 2011, Bansal, 2011.…”

“…La pulpa posee células mesenquimáticas indiferenciadas que derivan del ectodermo de la cresta neural, constituyendo una verdadera reserva celular, poseen capacidad de diferenciarse en nuevos odontoblastos o fibroblastos según el estímulo que actúe sobre ellas (Murray et al, 2008, Yen & Yelick, 2011, Suzuki et al, 2011.…”