Nanoengineering approaches to design advanced dental materials for clinical applications

The development of dental materials for clinical applications is largely based on complex physicochemical approaches involving traditional energy intensive and chemical routes. However, there is growing attention towards designing new recipes which can shift dental material design from bioinert to bioactive in order to regulate the biological response of biomineralized tissue. This article reviews current nano-engineering approaches and applications to design nanomaterials for advance clinical applications in dentistry, considering physical properties, aesthetics, surface texture and hierarchical assembly of tooth anatomy. In addition, this article gives an overview about the benefit of micro-nanoscale material design over conventional dental material arising due to advance nanoscale material properties. Biomimetic nano-engineering route via top-down and bottom-up approaches and subsequent opportunities/challenges aiming to future applications are discussed.