Tissue Engineering of Complex Tooth Structures on Biodegradable Polymer Scaffolds

TLDR

Tooth loss from periodontal disease, caries, trauma, or genetic disorders remains common, and a biological tooth substitute could offer a vital alternative to current treatments. The study aimed to generate tooth structures by dissociating porcine third molar tooth buds into single cells and seeding them onto biodegradable polymers. The method involved dissociating tooth buds into single‑cell suspensions and seeding them onto biodegradable polymer scaffolds. After 20–30 weeks in rat hosts, the constructs formed complete tooth structures with dentin, enamel, pulp, root sheath, and cementum, demonstrating the first successful generation of tooth crowns from dissociated porcine tissues and indicating the presence of epithelial and mesenchymal dental stem cells.

Abstract

Tooth loss due to periodontal disease, dental caries, trauma, or a variety of genetic disorders continues to affect most adults adversely at some time in their lives. A biological tooth substitute that could replace lost teeth would provide a vital alternative to currently available clinical treatments. To pursue this goal, we dissociated porcine third molar tooth buds into single-cell suspensions and seeded them onto biodegradable polymers. After growing in rat hosts for 20 to 30 weeks, recognizable tooth structures formed that contained dentin, odontoblasts, a well-defined pulp chamber, putative Hertwig’s root sheath epithelia, putative cementoblasts, and a morphologically correct enamel organ containing fully formed enamel. Our results demonstrate the first successful generation of tooth crowns from dissociated tooth tissues that contain both dentin and enamel, and suggest the presence of epithelial and mesenchymal dental stem cells in porcine third molar tissues.