LAUSR

Clinical approach to heal hard and soft tissue defects in dental and maxillofacial area sometimes rely upon biomaterials based mass products fabricated for a variety of surgical treatments, however, additive manufacturing and 3D printing express a paradigm shift in producing patient specific medical devices. Additive manufacturing or 3D printing are a collection of technologies allowing the fabrication of 3D structures via a computer and a computer aided design (CAD). Printing materials or ink can include metals, polymers, ceramics and cells. When cells are included in the printing ink, the technique is called 3D bioprinting which enables the precise deposition of cells, matrix, and signaling factors to produce sophisticated objects. It has the potential to revolutionize the dental treatments and to speed up transition from traditional restoration approach towards bioengineered solutions. Regarding this, Ostrovidov et al. (Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2023, 11, 991821) reviewed the recent advances in different bioprinting techniques (such as extrusion based, stereolithography, inkjet, laser assisted) and bioinks for application in regeneration of different dental alveolar tissues including dentine, dental pulp, bone, periodontal ligament, etc. The bioprinting regulation for both 3D printed constructs, without cells (regulated as medical devices) and with cells (regulated as biologics and drugs), is also discussed in this review paper. One of the challenges in the reconstruction of oral and maxillofacial defects is available biomaterials, which may not be appropriately able to perform true formation of new tissues. Optimization and fabrication of bioresorbable scaffolds with the capacity to reconstruct defects reliably and safely must be the major focuses of the future researches. Further, the potential functionalization of scaffolds for therapeutic purposes should be consider when designing regenerative bio constructs. Most of the available bone grafting materials in clinics lack appropriate degradability and efficient osteoinductivity. In a study by Xu et al., a novel biomimetic nanocrystalline calcium phosphate containing bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) was developed to prepare degradable and highly osteoinductive granules to heal critical sized bone defects. The results of cytotoxicity and cytocompatibility assessment of MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts showed no obvious cytotoxicity and improved pre-osteoblast cells adhesion. In-vivo histomorphometric OPEN ACCESS