New Frontiers in Conservative Dentistry: From Resin-Based Materials to Stem Cells

“Save the teeth” should be the final aim of every dentist. In the era of implantology, the attempt to maintain the tooth is critical; sometimes removing the whole tooth is easier than saving it. When the tooth is decayed, the clinician should remove the damaged tissue and try to reconstruct it. In this phase, decision making is an important task and the knowledge of all possible treatments and materials is essential in helping the clinician to take the right decision. Dentistry has recently gone through a technological revolution: important innovations have involved all dental disciplines, including Conservative dentistry, which is devoted to the care and maximum preservation of the tooth tissues. Preventive dentistry represents the initial and the most conservative method to accomplish the mission of preserving the teeth, therefore evaluations of new devices for dental care and oral disease were my first aim. If the tooth is decayed or traumatically injured, clinicians have a vast variety of dental materials to repair it. Nowadays, resin-based materials have become the gold standard replacements for damaged dental tissues, that can be restored using direct or indirect techniques. Recent developments and potential applications of some new resin-based materials were the second aim of the present thesis. In particular, physical and chemical properties of bulk fill composites and their behaviour after polishing procedures have been investigated. Furthermore, the cementation of indirect restoration has been evaluated by studying the kinetics of degree of conversion of luting resin agents and the effects on them of two different curing protocols. Finally, the third aim went a bit further into the future, in order to evaluate potential approaches of regenerating dental tissues or even completely reforming the whole tooth. Every day stem cells become closer to the reality and their clinical application could be a great challenge for regenerative and conservative dentistry. Novel potential strategies for regenerating damaged tissues have been studied. Particularly, a comparative study on the differentiation potential of human gingival, foreskin fibroblasts and dental pulp stem cells was performed.