Biomechanics and biomaterials in oral rehabilitation and dental treatment.

Oral rehabilitation and treatment are currently gaining increasing importance, not at least owing to substantiated insights and a wide array of available modern treatment options. The scope of rehabilitation varies from restorative/prosthetic management and bone substitution to construction and restoration models as well as aesthetic and material scientific issues, such as tooth colors and color stability. These highly topical issues are addressed by the scientific team of the Department of Orthodontics, Preventive Dentistry and Pedodontics at the Center of Dentistry and Oral Health of Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald in cooperation with its national and international partners. In very recent times, bone substitution, either autologous or synthetic, which requires a broad basic knowledge of bone biology and remodeling as shown in the article by Fanghänel et al. w2x, has been the focus of a large part of research. Contrary to other facial bones, the special features of the jaw bone are not the least due to its embryonic origin from the so-called neural crest. The use of synthetic bioactive bone substitute materials is of increasing importance in modern dentistry. The conventional autologous grafts have the disadvantage of requiring a surgical re-entry. Furthermore, a sufficient amount of autologous tissue is not always available. Hence, the increased use of artificial bone substitutes has been prompted by the extended single indications for structure preservation, defect healing and alveolar ridge augmentation in all areas of dentistry. The synthetic materials have to meet fastidious demands. The primary focus is on osteogenesis and bone construction, which are pivotal to osseous regeneration and, thus, on osteoblast-induced formation of new bone tissue aiming at complete defect substitution or healing. Also, the regular osteoclastic degradation of these materials matters. In any case, the surface structures, porosity and biochemical properties of the respective materials serve as