Bioglass-embedded alginate scaffold for dental bone tissue engineering applications

Abstract Traumatic dental injury impacts approximately 1 in 10 people globally and it is further challenging to treat with the complications such as inflammation, infection and dynamic oral pH which collectively slow down the dental bone healing. Currently existing approaches address these complications individually which results in suboptimal regenerative outcomes. Our study focuses on developing a multifunctional dental scaffold engineered to tackle inflammation and infection simultaneously and enhance bone regeneration through a dual drug delivery strategy and integration of Bioglass. A novel citric acid mediated process was used to produce bioglass which was further characterized using XRD and SEM analyses. The bioglass was capped with antibiotic and integrated into the alginate scaffold which was further subjected to surface coating of painkiller to enable rapid anti-inflammatory action and sustained antimicrobial release. The composite scaffold was further assessed for its physiochemical properties using swelling and degradation analysis, SEM was carried out to understand the structure and morphology of the scaffold. MTT assays were carried out on osteoblastic and fibroblastic cell lines to understand the cytocompatibility of the scaffold, while the osteogenic property was evaluated through biomineralization assay. The results showed successful synthesis and homogenous integration of bioglass, leading to increased swelling potential, controlled degradation and excellent biocompatibility. Robust osteogenic differentiation validated the scaffold’s capacity as an advanced platform for dental bone tissue engineering and effective management of traumatic dental injuries. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.