Living cell-based regenerative medicine technologies for periodontal soft tissue augmentation
Michael K McGuire 1 2 3, Lorenzo Tavelli 1, Stephen E Feinberg 4, Giulio Rasperini 1 5, Giovanni Zucchelli 1 6, Hom-Lay Wang 1, William V Giannobile 1 7
The cultivation of human living cells into scaffolding matrices has progressively gained popularity in the field of periodontal wound healing and regeneration. Living cellular constructs based on fibroblasts, keratinocytes alone or in combination have been developed and used as alternatives to autogenous soft tissue grafts in keratinized tissue augmentation and in root coverage procedures. Their promising advantages include reduced patient morbidity, unlimited graft availability, and comparable esthetics. This manuscript reviews soft tissue augmentation and root coverage procedures using bioengineered living cellular therapy and highlights their expected clinical, esthetic, and patient-related outcomes.