Navigating oxidative stress in oral bone regeneration: mechanisms and reactive oxygen species-regulating biomaterial...

'Oral bone' primarily refers to the bones within the mouth, specifically the jawbones and the alveolar bone that supports teeth. Oral bone tissue defects are commonly caused by trauma, inflammation and surgical excision and their repair represents one of the core challenges in the field of oral medicine. The use of functional biomaterials for tissue regeneration has become a research focus in the field of damaged tissue treatment. However, following the implantation of biomaterials, the immune response induces the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the open and susceptible environment of oral bone predisposes it to redox imbalance, resulting in ROS accumulation and compromised repair. In response to this challenge, ROS-regulating biomaterials have developed into an effective platform for restoring redox balance. Despite this progress, current research lacks a systematic framework for the mechanism and design of biomaterials specifically addressing the special metabolism of oral bone. This review focuses on the physiological and pathological characteristics of oral bone, explores the interaction mechanisms between the oxidative stress and oral bone defects and provides a functional classification of regulation mechanisms. In addition, this review provides several corresponding suggestions for the development of targeted biomaterials according to the problems of existing ROS-regulating materials applied in oral bone repair.