Reconstruction of Craniomaxillofacial Bone Defects Using Tissue-Engineering Strategies with Injectable and Non-Injectable Scaffolds

• Main Authors: Bipin Gaihre, Suren Uswatta, Ambalangodage C. Jayasuriya
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017-11-01
• Series: Journal of Functional Biomaterials
• Subjects: craniofacial reconstruction; bone; stem cells; scaffolds; injectable; growth factors; biomaterials
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/8/4/49

Engineering craniofacial bone tissues is challenging due to their complex structures. Current standard autografts and allografts have many drawbacks for craniofacial bone tissue reconstruction; including donor site morbidity and the ability to reinstate the aesthetic characteristics of the host tissue. To overcome these problems; tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies have been developed as a potential way to reconstruct damaged bone tissue. Different types of new biomaterials; including natural polymers; synthetic polymers and bioceramics; have emerged to treat these damaged craniofacial bone tissues in the form of injectable and non-injectable scaffolds; which are examined in this review. Injectable scaffolds can be considered a better approach to craniofacial tissue engineering as they can be inserted with minimally invasive surgery; thus protecting the aesthetic characteristics. In this review; we also focus on recent research innovations with different types of stem-cell sources harvested from oral tissue and growth factors used to develop craniofacial bone tissue-engineering strategies.