Tissue Engineering in Orthodontics

Today, Tissue Engineering is a growing and exciting field of research. Mankind is advancing beyond the ability to attain the capability of replacing and regenerating living body tissues. In Dental Research, the goal of tissue engineering is to restore tissue function through the delivery of stem cells, bioactive molecules, or synthetic tissue constructs engineered in the laboratory. The application of regenerative dentistry in dental clinics has begun to produce wonderful treatments, to dramatically improve patients¿ quality of life. Clinical tissue engineering in orthodontics is in its infancy; most researches presently are in vitro and pharmaceutical. Combination of principles and methods of life sciences with those of engineering may create entire tissue replacements and phenotype of alveolar or may be entire jaw bone. Tissue engineering may achieve something that has been missing in successful orthodontics such as treatment of periodontally compromised and cleft patients. The amalgamation of bioengineering and orthodontics will result in an explosion of knowledge that will enhance our understanding of craniofacial development and culminate in a new era in dentistry.