Applications of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Sinus Lift Augmentation as a Dental Implant Technology

The potential application of stem cell biology in human dentistry is a new and emerging field of research. The objective of the current review was to study the efficiency of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in sinus lift augmentation (SLA). A literature review was performed in PubMed Central using MeSH keywords such as sinus lift, MSCs, dental implants, and augmentation. The searches involved full-text papers written in English, published in the past 10 years (2007–2017). The review included in vitro and in vivo studies on the use of MSCs in SLA. Electronic searching provided 45 titles, and among them, 8 papers were chosen as suitable based on the inclusion requirements of this review. The reviewed studies have revealed the potential of MSCs in SLA. According to these papers, stem cell therapy combined with different biomaterials may considerably improve bone regeneration in previous steps of dental implantation and may veritably lead to efficient clinical usages in the recent future. However, the identification of an ideal source of stem cells as well as long-term studies is vital to assess the success rate of this technology. Further clinical trials are also needed to approve the potential of MSCs in SLA.