Bioengineered Teeth and Regenerative Strategies: Advances in Tissue Engineering and Stem Cell Applications.

Abstract

Tooth and endodontic disease pose important challenges, and traditional therapies are dependent upon mechanical restoration rather than biological regeneration. Progress in tissue engineering, biofabrication, and biomaterials science is increasingly supporting regenerative endodontics and bioengineered tooth construction through the use of stem cell-based methods, functionalized scaffolds, and 3D bioprinting technologies. This article summarizes advances in bioengineered dental tissue, emphasizing scaffold design, regulation of induced pluripotent stem cell and dental pulp stem cell differentiation, and solutions for vascularization and innervation. Such important biomaterials as PLGA, alginate, bioactive ceramics, and nanomaterials have been evaluated for their ability to regulate cell behavior and tissue integration. The new role of artificial intelligence in scaffold design and growth factor delivery is presented. There are persisting challenges of mimicking native tooth complexity, obtaining functional vasculature, and satisfying regulatory requirements for bioengineered tooth models. Future directions are expected to emphasize novel biofabrication technologies, the use of high-throughput screening for optimizing biomaterials, and the development of scalable production processes. This article provides a roadmap for translating bioengineered dental constructs from preclinical models to clinical-scale regenerative solutions, with implications for broader tissue engineering fields beyond dentistry.