Engineering nanocellulose for emerging dental material applications

This review examines recent advances in the use of nanocelluloses in dental materials, including cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs); identifies property-function relationships; and highlights opportunities to broaden their application across dentistry.

A targeted literature search from 2000 to 2025 was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed including keywords related to nanocellulose and dental materials. Keywords "cellulose derivatives" or "bacterial cellulose" were excluded from the search. Additional sources were identified through citation screening of relevant papers.

Nanocelluloses, particularly CNCs and CNFs, have been investigated for incorporation into some categories of dental materials such as dental composites and dental cements. In addition, their use as metallic surface coatings, drug delivery systems, remineralizing strategies and in tissue engineering scaffolds have been explored. Nanocelluloses are primarily applied as mechanical reinforcing agents, with optimal properties often achieved at low loadings. CNCs impart stiffness due to their crystallinity, while CNFs contribute toughness through fibrillar entanglement. However, the hydrophilic nature of nanocelluloses promotes aggregation, non-uniform dispersion, and poor compatibility with hydrophobic matrices, which remains a key challenge in application development. To address current bottlenecks, this review outlines future directions, including advanced nanocellulose surface functionalization strategies, leveraging aqueous processing for sustainability, and expanding nanocelluloses into multifunctional applications such as adhesives, 3D-printable resins, and bioactive composites.

This review provides a critical and forward-looking overview to establish a foundation for guiding and stimulating future research on integrating nanocelluloses into a diverse range of dental materials.