Polymers for Oral and Dental Health
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 November 2021) | Viewed by 43948
Special Issue Editors
Interests: orthodontics; dental hygiene, adhesive dentistry; dental materials; CAD/CAM; intraoral scanner; computerized cast; shear; bond strength; bracket; fiber-reinforced composite; miniscrews; remineralization; probiotics; biomimetic materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: polymeric dental materials; dentistry; polymeric adhesion; orthodontics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Polymers represent a widespread category of materials with applications both in medicine and in dentistry, and this is attributed not only to their surface characteristics but also their mechanical and biological properties, along with easy processability and low cost. They consist of high-molecular-mass macromolecules formed by the repetition of the respective monomers. In dentistry, some of the most commonly used polymers are polyethylene (PE), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyurethane (PUR), polylactic acid (PLLA), poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), polypyrrole (PPy), hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM), and N-tert-butylacrylamide (TBA). The mechanical properties of these biomaterials are related to their bulk characteristics; however, their interaction with tissues strictly depends on their surface, which justifies the possibility of using polymer coatings to increase the biocompatibility of bulk materials.
Considering the specific applications of polymers, these cover almost every field of dentistry. The current restorative procedures are based on restorations with composite resins that are made of monomers that become polymeric after photopolymerization. This is the same for dental adhesives, which represent a prerequisite to guarantee the adhesion of restorations to the dental surface, as well as that of brackets and retainers in orthodontics. Moreover, cements like resin-modified glass-ionomers, which contain a resinous component, are used for the adhesion of orthodontic bands to posterior teeth besides having many applications in pedodontics. In addition, fiber-reinforced composites are used for post-orthodontic tooth retention and for splinting mobile teeth.
Polymeric materials are also encountered in prosthodontics, for example, with acrylic resins dentures and with adhesives for metal or ceramic, and polymers are suitable as 3D-printing materials due to their versatility. Recently, the synthetic polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has also been proposed as a new implant material.
Finally, polymers (even of natural origin) are also used to fabricate scaffolds, inducing an in situ regeneration of dentin- and pulp-like tissues, to realize membranes for guided tissue regeneration (GTR), and then as delivery systems of various drugs or bioactive macromolecules to treat different oral and periodontal pathologies.
In conclusion, polymer-based materials are playing a central role in dentistry and knowledge of their properties should be improved to take advantage of further potentialities in clinical practice. Therefore, it is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue on developments and applications of polymeric materials in dentistry. Full papers, communications, and reviews are welcome.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Polymer-based dental materials
- Resin composites
- Adhesives
- Restorative dentistry
- Prosthodontics
- Orthodontics
- Pediatric dentistry
- Regenerative therapies
- Drug delivery systems
Please refer to the non-exhaustive list of keywords for further hints.
Prof. Dr. Andrea Scribante
Dr. Simone Gallo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- polymers
- dentistry
- dental materials
- restorative
- resin
- composite
- adhesive
- orthodontics
- regenerative therapies
- drug delivery
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