Electrospun scaffold development for periodontal ligament regeneration

Periodontitis is a major chronic inflammatory disorder that can lead to the destruction of the periodontal tissues and, ultimately, tooth loss. It is a major cause of tooth loss in adults and a substantial public-health burden worldwide. There is thus a significant need for periodontal ligament (PDL) regeneration to enable functional mechanical support of tooth prostheses and prevent occlusal overloading. The goal of stem cell-based dental tissue engineering, is to create tooth-like structures using scaffold materials to guide the dental stem cells. Current resorbable membranes act as an epithelial tissue down-growth into the defect, favoring the regeneration of periodontal tissues. In order to develop synthetic grafts for these applications, different biocompatible materials have been used to fabricate fibers with different structures and morphologies. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using a composite material that combines the advantage of multiple materials to synthesize polyvinyl alcohol/ chitosan blend fiber scaffolds to promote PDL regeneration and to achieve a synthetic composite that match the native PDL modulus. Morphology, dispersibility, and mechanical properties of blend nanofibrous mats were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and tensile test.