Seeking Endurance: Designing Smart Dental Composites for Tooth Restoration

Smart dental materials refer to materials used in dentistry with additional functionality to enhance treatment outcomes, which may improve oral health. Smart materials for dental restorations can react to stimuli such as a specific temperature, a different pH, or mechanical stress, repair small cracks or damage by themselves, and interact beneficially with biological surroundings. For example, they might release ions and promote tooth remineralization or have antibacterial properties to prevent bacterial growth. Others can have enhanced mechanical properties like strength and wear resistance to ensure these materials can withstand daily masticatory forces. This review presents our current comprehension of smart dental materials designed for tooth restoration. We focused on what these materials need to be effective, like durability, biocompatibility, and aesthetic requests, besides identifying new ideas for their design. A detailed analysis of the current challenges in formulating these materials, such as the balance between enough ions released with proper physicochemical properties and achieving the desired biological response, was discussed. We also discussed how these cutting-edge technologies are leveraged to overcome existing limitations, creating more dental materials with potential clinical translation. The review also discusses the practical challenges in implementation and the prospects for these materials in dentistry.