Trends in polymeric electrospun fibers and their use as oral biomaterials

Abstract

Electrospinning is one of the techniques to produce structured polymeric fibers in the micro or nano scale and to generate novel materials for biomedical proposes. Electrospinning versatility provides fibers that could support different surgical and rehabilitation treatments. However, its diversity in equipment assembly, polymeric materials, and functional molecules to be incorporated in fibers result in profusion of recent biomaterials that are not fully explored, even though the recognized relevance of the technique. The present article describes the main electrospun polymeric materials used in oral applications, and the main aspects and parameters of the technique. Natural and synthetic polymers, blends, and composites were identified from the available literature and recent developments. Main applications of electrospun fibers were focused on drug delivery systems, tissue regeneration, and material reinforcement or modification, although studies require further investigation in order to enable direct use in human. Current and potential usages as biomaterials for oral applications must motivate the development in the use of electrospinning as an efficient method to produce highly innovative biomaterials, over the next few years. Impact statement Nanotechnology is a challenge for many researchers that look for obtaining different materials behaviors by modifying characteristics at a very low scale. Thus, the production of nanostructured materials represents a very important field in bioengineering, in which the electrospinning technique appears as a suitable alternative. This review discusses and provides further explanation on this versatile technique to produce novel polymeric biomaterials for oral applications. The use of electrospun fibers is incipient in oral areas, mainly because of the unfamiliarity with the technique. Provided disclosure, possibilities and state of the art are aimed at supporting interested researchers to better choose proper materials, understand, and design new experiments. This work seeks to encourage many other researchers-Dentists, Biologists, Engineers, Pharmacists-to develop innovative materials from different polymers. We highlight synthetic and natural polymers as trends in treatments to motivate an advance in the worldwide discussion and exploration of this interdisciplinary field.

Injectable Biomaterials for Dental Tissue Regeneration

“…Electrospun nanofibers can, therefore, be used to carry dental resultant stem cells for optimal dental tissue regeneration for dental engineering applications. This is because electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds are easy to fabricate, and have features such as fibre alignment and control over scaffold size [212][213][214][215].…”

“…Electrospun nanofibers such as polymeric nanofibers or bioceramic nanoparticle-integrated nanofibers are applied in dentistry. In addition, their flexibility and nanostructure have resulted in highly promotive cell homing behaviours, leading to enhanced dental health [214]. In addition, electrospun nanofibrous scaffold biomaterials including polycaprolactone is used to regenerate dental tissues in dental tissue engineering, as shown in Figure 6 below.…”

Advances in Tissue Engineering Approaches for Craniomaxillofacial Bone Reconstruction

“…Natural polymers can be categorized into two main subgroups e.g. polysaccharides (alginate, cellulose, starch, chitosan) and polypeptides and proteins (collagen, silk fibroin, albumin) [31], whereas synthetic polymers majorly include polycaprolactone (PCL), poly lactic acid (PLA), poly(l-lactic) acid (PLLA), poly D, L-lactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and magneto-responsive polymeric systems [3,41,42].…”

“…However, animal derived collagen poses risk to public health and safety [22]. Collagen is the main organic component of dentin matrix and presents a good alternative for dental implantations [41].…”

In Vitro Degradation of Electrospun Poly(Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) (PLGA) for Oral Mucosa Regeneration

“…In the case of copolymers like PLGA, polymers with different monomer’s composition can provide materials with different stiffness and degradation rates in vitro and in vivo. All these polymers have been used for tissue engineering in dentistry, in addition to natural polymers such as chitosan, collagen and cellulose [ 9 ].…”