Scaffolds for engineering tooth-ligament interfaces

Abstract

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease affecting the highly hierarchical oral region known as the periodontium. It results in the gradual destruction of the tooth-supporting apparatus; periodontal ligament, cementum, and alveolar bone. Modern techniques can successfully limit the disease progression by targeting the microbial etiology of the disease; however, regeneration characterized by new cementum formation and periodontal ligament attachment remains elusive. Various novel tissue engineering approaches have been investigated for this purpose with an emphasis on patient-specific geometries, cellular and growth factor delivery, extracellular matrix formation, vascularization, and spatiotemporal degradation. This chapter reviews current developments in scaffold design for periodontal ligament tissue engineering, elaborating on the utilization of multiphase bioengineered scaffold recapitulating the hierarchical architecture of the native tissue. The chapter also describes the concepts and the recent advancements in whole tooth tissue engineering and explains the main challenges that this field is facing.