The Application of Metal Nanoparticles in Oral Inflammatory Diseases

Oral inflammatory diseases pose a significant global health challenge due to their high incidence and risk of systemic complications. Conventional treatment methods are limited by issues such as antibiotic resistance, poor drug delivery efficiency, and immunosuppressive side effects, which create an urgent need for innovative therapeutic approaches. Metal nanoparticles (MNPs), as promising candidates, have unique antibacterial and immune-regulating properties, which arise from their nanoscale size, excellent targeted penetration, and diverse biological activities. This review overviews the mechanisms involving major MNPs, such as Ag, Cu/CuO, Au, TiO₂, Zn/ZnO and CeO₂, in oral inflammatory diseases over the past 5 years, together with their applications in preclinical and clinical settings. These MNPs can effectively inactivate oral pathogens and modulate the host immune response. Furthermore, they enhance the precision of targeted drug delivery by improving material properties, thereby offering more effective treatment and prevention of oral inflammatory diseases. The discussion then moves on to address the challenges encountered by MNPs in clinical translation and their future development prospects. These MNPs possess tremendous potential for advancing the personalisation and precision of oral inflammatory disease therapy.