Hierarchical Biomineralization: from Nature's Designs to Synthetic Materials for Regenerative Medicine and Dentistry

Abstract

Biomineralization is a highly dynamic, yet controlled, process that many living creatures employ to develop functional tissues such as tooth enamel, bone, and others. A major goal in materials science is to create bioinspired functional structures based on the precise organization of building blocks across multiple length scales. Therefore, learning how nature has evolved to use biomineralization could inspire new ways to design and develop synthetic hierarchical materials with enhanced functionality. Toward this goal, this review dissects the current understanding of structure-function relationships of dental enamel and bone using a materials science perspective and discusses a wide range of synthetic technologies that aim to recreate their hierarchical organization and functionality. Insights into how these strategies could be applied for regenerative medicine and dentistry are also provided.

Biomaterials for bone tissue engineering scaffolds: a review

“…11 The structure of natural bone has been presented in various articles. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Compact bone is nearly solid, except for $3-5% of rooms for canaliculi, osteocytes and so on. 18 However, trabecular bone is an interconnected porous network and has a higher bone surface-to-bone volume (BS/BV) ratio than compact bone.…”

Acellular biomaterial strategies for endodontic regeneration

“…In a recent review, Elsharkawy et al addressed the complex hierarchical structure of biomineralised tissues, with an emphasis on enamel and bone, and the different approaches designed to replicate and repair them. 71 This approach was demonstrated by the creation of tunable, hierarchical polycrystalline structures exploiting elastin-like recombinamers and its self-assembly properties. 72 The resulting material exhibited high hardness and stiffness and, when grown onto etched dental tissues, showed acid-resistant properties comparable to those of enamel and biointegration with dentine.…”

Tooth Repair and Regeneration

“…Still, a major goal in the fast-developing material science remains creation, design, and development of bioinspired functional structures, using synthetic hierarchical materials with enhanced functionality, like the dental enamel [ 18 •]. Moreover, the open question remaining is the time needed for enamel remineralization to form a functional enamel tissue.…”