Dental stem cells and tissue regeneration in odontology: a brief systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: New ideas for tooth and tissue regeneration began to appear with rapid developments in tissue engineering theories and technologies. Numerous types of stem cells have been isolated from dental tissue, such as dental pulp stem cells (DPSC), human pulp stem cells isolated from exfoliated primary teeth (SHED), periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSC), apical papillary stem (SCAP) and dental follicular cells (DFC). All these cells can regenerate tooth tissue. Objective: It was to present the main considerations of bioengineering techniques and report the results obtained in experiments with dental stem cells, as well as their real trends in application in dentistry. Methods: The systematic review rules of the PRISMA Platform were followed. The search was carried out from October to December 2022 in the Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo, and Google Scholar databases, using articles from 2001 to 2022. The quality of the studies was based on the GRADE instrument and the risk of bias was analyzed accordingly, according to the Cochrane instrument. Results and Conclusion: A total of 118 articles were found, 27 articles were evaluated and 16 were included and developed in this systematic review study. Considering the Cochrane tool for risk of bias, the overall assessment resulted in 29 studies with a high risk of bias and 42 studies that did not meet GRADE. It is concluded that the collection of mesenchymal stem cells from deciduous teeth should be widely disseminated, as it is of great importance and wide applicability, allowing the repair of the most diverse cell types. In addition, it has several advantages, such as a non-invasive technique, respecting the period of dentition change, there are more than 20 collection possibilities, it presents high compatibility with the donor and family members and storage for an indefinite period. The studies showed that implantation of stem cells from deciduous teeth led to the regeneration of three-dimensional pulp tissue equipped with blood vessels and sensory nerves up to 12 months after treatment, as well as increased root length and reduced apical foramen width, not showing adverse events over 24 months of follow-up.