| [ Summary ] |
Dental pulp has an important property in that it shows mineralized tissue formation in response to a variety of external stimuli such as caries, dental attrition, and tooth abrasion. The mineralized tissue within the pulp cavity is formed by odontoblast- or osteoblast-like cells originating from the dental pulp for protection against pulp exposure. In addition, recent studies have revealed that the dental pulp contains tissue stem cells that participate in dentin and pulp regeneration. This review presents current evidence for the mineralized tissue formation ability of dental pulp cells and their potential usefulness in tissue engineering applications as a cell resource. |