[Research progress on the application of stimuli-responsive hydrogels in dental pulp regeneration]

Dental pulp and periapical diseases pose severe threats. Pulp regeneration techniques can be employed to repair damaged tissue and restore their functions. Hydrogels are scaffold materials with unique advantages in this field. Stimuli-responsive hydrogels, as an important branch, have made breakthroughs in research and development in recent years. They can intelligently respond to external stimuli (such as light, temperature, pH, pressure and other various factors), possessing both satisfactory biocompatibility and injectability. Moreover, they can adjust their physicochemical properties in response to environmental changes to create a precisely controllable local microenvironment for dental pulp regeneration, showing promise in addressing challenges such as vascular and neural reconstruction. This review focuses on the application strategies of stimuli-responsive hydrogels in dental pulp regeneration and the latest progress in stimuli-responsive regulation, as well as analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogels with different response types, aiming to provide references for technological innovations in dental pulp regeneration.