Functionalized Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels: Emerging Biomimetic Platforms for Regenerative Oral and Maxillofacial...

Oral and maxillofacial illnesses are a common global health concern caused by inflammatory conditions and tissue loss. Ensuring excellent oral health is critical for a great quality of life, but treating oral disorders and regenerating damaged tooth tissues remains difficult. Hydrogels are growing as potential biomaterials in contemporary dentistry. Their 3D network topologies, a substantial amount of water, biocompatibility, and diverse bioactivities make them suitable as drug delivery systems, antimicrobial substances, tissue regeneration, and scaffolds [1-4]. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an organic polymer with several distinguishing features, including good biocompatibility and biodegradation, native biological functionality, hydrophilic nature, and a lack of immune responses. HA plays critical roles in several biochemical reactions, particularly inflammation, cell attachment, relocation, development, division, angiogenesis, and tissue repair. All these features and biological activities make HA an interesting material for the development of biomedical hydrogels for oral and maxillofacial reconstruction. Because HA cannot gelate independently, it must be treated and functionalized by chemical changes and crosslinking to produce diverse HA-based hydrogels. In this study, we will focus on chemical modification and crosslinking techniques for HA hydrogels, with the goal of providing an overview of the most recent achievements in the creation of HA hydrogels for tissue regeneration. We outline and recommend realistic strategies for the use of H hydrogels in oral and maxillofacial regenerative therapies, as well as address potential application trends that may eventually boost HA hydrogels as an attractive option for clinical applications.