Different Biomaterials for Dental Tissue Regeneration from Clinical Point of View

The tooth is a structurally complex tissue consisting of both hard and soft components. Dental enamel is one of the toughest substances known, and the dental pulp is the living connective tissue with blood vessels and nerves. In between the two is the mineralized tubular structure dentine. The supporting structures for teeth are also complex, varying from keratinized epithelium in the gingiva to highly mineralized cementum. Such complexities are not challenging to regenerate in physical form but also a challenge to restore functionally. Tissue engineering of the entire tooth and/or its components requires specialized biomaterials that provide the biological characteristics of tissue regeneration, physical strength to support and promote mineralization, and structural adaptability to conform to the desired shape. This chapter discusses the various biomaterials that have been tested as scaffolds for dental tissue engineering. It also describes the biomaterials, their properties, advantages, disadvantages, modifications, and future challenge. The chapter explains in detail both natural and synthetic biomaterials with a note on newer materials that could be researched for future use. Furthermore, stem cell source and the tooth tissue supported with context to tissue engineering approaches are also discussed in this chapter.