Osteogenic Marker Expression after SHED and PMMA-HA Scaffold Application in Alveolar Bone Defects

Alveolar bone defects in dentistry-caused by trauma, congenital anomalies, and periodontal disease-can substantially impair oral health and tooth function. These effects pose significant challenges in dentistry, and current gold-standard treatments such as autogenous bone grafting have notable limitations. Stem cell from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) has great potential for bone tissue engineering. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of SHED seeded in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)-hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds on the expression of osteogenic markers in alveolar bone defects.A total of 24 male Wistar rats had their maxillary incisors extracted, and the resulting defects were randomly assigned to three groups: (1) no treatment (control), (2) defects treated with PMMA-HA, and (3) defects treated with SHED seeded in PMMA-HA scaffolds. Immunoreactivity of BMP2, RUNX2, ALP, TGF-β, OCN, OPG, RANK, and RANKL was assessed.Immunohistochemical results showed upregulated expression of BMP2, RUNX2, ALP, TGF-β, OCN, and OPG and downregulated expression of RANK and RANKL in rats treated with SHED-seeded PMMA-HA scaffolds compared with control and defects treated with PMMA-HA only groups.SHED seeded into PMMA-HA scaffolds effectively influenced the expression of several osteogenic markers, such as BMP2, RUNX2, ALP, TGF-β, OCN, OPG, RANK, and RANKL, in alveolar bone defects. These findings indicate that the combination of SHED and PMMA-HA scaffolds could potentially become a promising regenerative alternative to autogenous bone grafting in alveolar bone defects.