The Old And The New Merge For The Future Of Endodontics. An In-Vitro Study

In the past years, there is growing understanding and awareness of the importance of vital pulp therapies. Advancements made in the field of endodontics, and in particular in regenerative endodontics, show a continuing pursuit after evidence based new methods for the treatment of pulp infection and inflammation. Root canal treatment is the most abundant treatment performed in these cases, however post treatment complications such as increased risk for breakage and post-treatment disease, motivate many to come up with better solutions. Tissue engineering could potentially give these diseased teeth a beneficial treatment option. In this regard a suitable scaffold could be utilized to facilitate new Dentin-Pulp complex formation. Various scaffolds have been researched in-vivo and in-vitro, certain scaffolds, such as PRF are used in humans with the purpose of giving a more favorable outcome for the treated teeth. Until now no scaffold has been able to support true pulp tissue formation. Some reports have shown the formation of a pulp-like tissue, some have shown the formation of connective tissues containing islands of calcified materials. In this study PEG-Fibrinogen (PF) , a biocompatible and biodegradable hydrogel scaffold with tunable characteristics was used. PFs` tunable mechanical properties and its` fibrinogen content, have been shown to support cell differentiation, migration and function. PFs` ability to take any shape and fill small spaces is ideal for dental purposes. Our in-vitro study aims to formulate and characterize the ideal cell-laden scaffold for the regeneration of the Dentin-Pulp complex. Cell-laden PF constructs with different stiffness and different cell densities were put in close contact with several dental materials. Cell viability and morphology were observed.