Scaffolds in Regenerative Periodontal Therapy

Tissue engineering holds great promise as a future therapeutic alternative to regenerate or repair damaged tissues. Strategies for cell transplantation and/ or growth factor delivery from a scaffold have successfully enhanced tissue formation and healing in many animal models and patients. To engineer successfully tissues and organs of increasing complexity, appropriate combinations of scaffolds, cells and inductive factors may be necessary. Novel scaffolds will be designed to exert precise control over tissue formation processes by delivering the proper combinations and ratios of growth factors in a specific spatial and temporal sequence to target cells for tissue regeneration. In addition to controlling the kinetics of protein and gene delivery, scaffolds guide and support tissue regeneration by acting as a synthetic extracellular matrix.