Nanomaterials as scaffolds in bone tissue engineering in dental medicine

Abstract

Traditional strategies for skeletal regeneration in the orofacial region involve the use of autogenous and allogenic bone grafts that may not always be available or safe. One alternative is to develop materials for use as scaffolds for tissue engineering. These calcium-phosphate-based materials are porous, have a large surface area to volume ratio, and can be used to deliver drugs or cells. This enables the development of scaffolds for applications in tissue engineering and bone regeneration. Nanostructured materials promote greater amounts of specific protein interactions and more efficiently stimulate new bone formation. When features of scaffolds are nanoscaled, a variety of interactions can be stimulated at the cellular level. The main requirements for bone tissue engineering scaffolds are discussed, as well as the main types and design strategies. The mechanism by which nanomaterials promote bone formation is explained and the current research status of main types of nanostructured scaffolds is reviewed.