Edward Lynch (Dental) and dentist Ahmed Mohamed published “Stem Cell Engineered Implant Dentistry — the Future of Implant Dentistry” in Stomatological Disease and Science in July. Clinical complications are associated with dental implants, such as gingival recession, gingival inflammation, crestal bone loss and inflammation of surrounding periodontal tissues. Also, despite the biocompatibility of dental implant materials they are yet incapable of mimicking the chemical, physical, and biological properties of natural tooth materials and their physiological functioning. Therefore, several revolutionary ideas have been proposed to overcome these limitations, taking advantage of the immense advances in biology, tissue engineering, computer and information technologies that have taken place over the last two decades. It is no surprise that researchers have already attempted to further push the boundaries of biology, tissue engineering, and computer sciences to induce a revolution in implant dentistry that could ultimately change the way we perceive and practice prosthodontics. However, this paper reports that research findings indicate that dentistry still has a very long way to go to achieve this goal as enormous laboratory efforts, clinical trials, and investments have yet to be utilized in order to turn these visions, concepts, and approaches into reality.
