| Abstract Scope |
Oral health challenges form one of the most prevalent medical interventions. 3.5 billion cases end up with untreated oral conditions where more than quarter million individuals ending up with complete tooth loss globally. In US, nearly 100 million dental composite and amalgam restorations fail each year, and the cycle of repeated composite-restoration replacements is a pernicious problem. Clinical need for dental biomaterial therapies is unrelenting. Dental biomaterials in oral cavity are required to interface not only with a diverse set of tissues, from soft oral gingiva to hard, mineralized enamel and bone; but also function under demanding environmental conditions. To address this challenge, we harness biomolecules for engineered preventive, restorative, and regenerative approaches where a particular focus is imparted to key biological activity imparted by each engineered biomolecule. Emphasis will be placed on the structure-function relationships between biomolecules and their biological activity, the unique challenges of each clinical condition. |