The use of craniofacial tissue engineering lies in its ability to assist in the regeneration or de novo formation of dental, oral, and craniofacial structures that have been lost due to congenital anomalies, trauma or diseases. As such, several craniofacial structures, such as the mandibular condyle, calvarial bone, cranial suture, and subcutaneous adipose tissue have been engineered from mesenchymal stem cells, growth factor, and/or gene therapy approaches. Earlier, durable materials such as amalgam, composites, and metallic alloys were used for repair purposes. Now, in the era of modern technology, one is able to consider sophisticated biological therapies that utilize mesenchymal stem cells, delivered or internally recruited, to generate craniofacial structures in temporary scaffolding biomaterials. Craniofacial tissue engineering is a very exciting prospect of today’s world, and is an opportunity that could possibly revolutionize dentistry as we know it. This review discusses potential clinical applications of stem cells in such aspects while mentioning relevant clinical studies that have marked it suitable for such a use. It also discusses immediate challenges and concerns that need to be addressed. Regeneration and repair of calvarial structures, alveolar bone, cleft lip and palate, TMJ and condyle have been discussed in specific (Mao et al., 2006).
