Enhancing Healing in Oral Surgical Procedures: A Review on Biomaterials, Growth Factors, and Tissue Engineering.

Abstract

Oral surgical procedures require predictable healing of mucosal, periodontal, peri-implant, and maxillofacial tissues, yet repair is often challenged by microbial exposure, inflammation, mechanical stress, systemic disease, and complex defect architecture. Although biomaterials, growth factors, platelet concentrates, stem-cell therapies, hydrogels, and three-dimensional tissue-engineered constructs have been widely investigated, their clinical translation remains inconsistent because of protocol heterogeneity, variable outcome measures, limited long-term evidence, and procedure-specific differences in healing demands. This review evaluates current regenerative strategies used to enhance healing after oral surgical procedures, with emphasis on biological mechanisms, clinical applications, comparative effectiveness, translational barriers, and future therapeutic potential. Literature published between 2018 and 2026 was identified through PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar using terms related to oral wound healing, biomaterials, growth factors, platelet concentrates, stem cells, guided bone regeneration, periodontal regeneration, implant healing, and maxillofacial reconstruction. The evidence indicates that biomaterials improve wound stability, space maintenance, clot retention, and controlled delivery, while growth factors and platelet concentrates support angiogenesis, epithelial repair, fibroblast activity, matrix deposition, and bone remodeling. Tissue-engineering approaches further expand regenerative capacity through scaffold-cell-signal systems, dental stem cells, extracellular vesicles, and three-dimensional bioprinting. Overall, integrated regenerative strategies may improve oral surgical healing, but standardized protocols, robust clinical trials, and patient-centered outcomes are needed.