Pulp regeneration and its clinical translation into regenerative endodontic procedures are receiving increasing research attention, leading to significant growth of the published scientific and clinical literature within these areas. Development of research strategies, which consider patient-, clinician-, and scientist-based outcomes, will allow greater focus on key research questions driving more rapid clinical translation. Three key areas of focus for these research questions should include cells, signaling, and infection/inflammation. A translational pathway is envisaged in which clinical approaches are increasingly refined to provide regenerative endodontic protocols that are based on a robust understanding of the physiological processes and events responsible for the normal secretion, structure, and biological behavior of pulpal tissue.
Keywords: Cell signaling; clinical translation; dentin; inflammation; pulp; regeneration; regenerative endodontics; stem cells.
Copyright © 2017 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.