Bacterial cellulose: a biomaterial with high potential in dental and oral applications

Abstract: Bacterial cellulose has great potential as a biomaterial for dental and oral applications. It has been used mainly in dental pulp tissue regeneration, periodontal regeneration, and dressing of surgical wounds of the oral mucosa. In addition, bacterial cellulose has been explored in dental root canal treatment to remove the total residue and dry the canal. This review describes some bacterial cellulose studies focused on these applications, as well as advantages, disadvantages and some important results in both in vitro and in vivo evaluations, based on the physiological and structural components of the particular tissue. Furthermore, this work describes the properties and advantages of bacterial cellulose in dental and oral applications compared with other biomaterials. Finally, in the new era of biomaterials, composite materials inspired by biological tissue based on bacterial cellulose are proposed for alveolar bone regeneration. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]