Bioactive Materials: Unfolding of a New Era

Letter to Editor

Quest for newer material are never ending especially in the field of dental science.Though initially ideal restorative materials were thought to be the one which were biologically inert and hence biocompatible, the past two decades have seen the emergence of bioactive materials as a promising alternative. A material is said to be bioactive if it gives an appropriate biological response and results in the formation of bond between the material and the tissue. These materials act directly on the vital tissue inducing growth factors and favouring cellular activity thereby aiding in regeneration, repair and reconstruction.Bioactive materials cover a wide range of clinical applications like drug-delivery vehicles (e.g., for antibiotics and growth factors), scaffolds in pulp tissue engineering, minimal invasive and intervention treatments in operative dentistry and good alternatives in endodontics as root canal fillers, root end filling materials and intra canal medicaments. The material science is basically a combination of interdisciplinary approach that involves nanotechnology, bioengineering, and biotechnology. Bioactive materials have also become the most popular area of research with plenty of hopes on improving the health care of dental patients.