Endodontic Tissue Regeneration: A Review for Tissue Engineers and Dentists

The paradigm shift in the endodontic field from replacement toward regenerative therapies has witnessed the ever-growing research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine targeting pulp-dentin complex in the past few years. Abundant literature on the subject that has been produced, however, is scattered over diverse areas of knowledge. Moreover, the terminology and concepts are not always consensual, reflecting the range of research fields addressing this subject, from endodontics to biology, genetics, and engineering, among others. This fact triggered some misinterpretations, mainly when the denominations of different approaches were used as synonyms. The evaluation of results is not precise, leading to biased conjectures. Therefore, this literature review aims to conceptualize the commonly used terminology, summarize the main research areas on pulp regeneration, identify future trends, and ultimately clarify whether we are really on the edge of a paradigm shift in contemporary endodontics toward pulp regeneration. Impact statementEndodontic tissue regeneration is a hot research topic among tissue engineers and dentists. It aims to regenerate the lost dental pulp tissue to maintain tooth vitality. Nevertheless, the terminology and concepts are not consensual among the scientific community. This literature review aims to summarize the terminology commonly used in dentistry, summarize the main research areas on pulp tissue engineering and regeneration, and identify future trends toward the clinical application of regenerative endodontic therapies.

Automated summary

In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in the endodontic field towards regenerative therapies for the pulp-dentin complex. However, the abundant literature on this subject is scattered and lacks consensus in terminology and concepts. This literature review aims to clarify the commonly used terminology, summarize the main research areas, and identify future trends in pulp regeneration.