Dental caries, the most common oral disease with a worldwide burden, causes structural damage to enamel and dentine. Considering the limitations of conventional restorative approaches and the dynamic nature of caries, biomimetic remineralization strategies offer a promising alternative for restoring tooth structure. Central to many of these strategies is the use of polymers to emulate the role of macromolecular templates in natural mineralization processes. This review summarizes the polymers applied for biomimetic mineralization of enamel and dentine according to their primary functions. Furthermore, perspectives on the trends and challenges for future research on polymeric biomaterials for enamel and dentine repair are also presented.
Keywords: biomimetic mineralization; biomineralization; dentine remineralization; enamel remineralization; polymer.