|
The profession of Dentistry has evolved greatly in every major specialty and treatment area over the last fifty years. The evolution of the profession as a whole clinically has allowed dentists the ability to retain, restore, and replace teeth and other oral tissues. A large part of the process includes research pertinent to several dental specialties, including basic, translational, and clinical sciences. In endodontics, biologic solutions to healing of the dental tissues through repair and regeneration will lead to improved outcomes clinically. Retention or regeneration of the dental pulp in a vital, healthy state will occur through tissue engineering and lead to the preservation of both hard and soft tissues. The early use of direct and indirect pulp capping methods has led to an area once thought to be impossible to produce, hence, Regenerative Endodontics. As the readers will appreciate, Regenerative Endodontics is a complex, difficult area to understand in that not only retention of the original dental pulp can occur but also the generation of new pulp-dentin-enamel-like tissue can be duplicated in form and function in a manner similar to the original tissue. Leading authors have contributed to a well-rounded review of the field of regenerative endodontics. This edition of Dental Clinics of North America preludes with an overview of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering and then delves into the current dental regenerative research. The tri-factor combination of dental stem cells, constructs/scaffolds, and signaling mechanisms/growth factors, integral to repair and regeneration, is discussed together as well as independently. Although a clear clinical translation is still in process, prototypical guidelines, strategies, and initial treatment outcomes are discussed in detail. With this issue the editors and authors aim to review the most current understanding of this therapy-changing field and also provide important factors for future directions. Further understanding of the ability of injured pulpal tissue to heal and repair, coupled with continued research into the processes necessary to create pulp-like tissues, may yield everyday regenerative therapies in the not-so-distant future.
|
