Periodontal disease and periodontal tissue regeneration.

Periodontal disease leads to destruction of the periodontium such as alveolar bone, cementum, the periodontal ligament, and gingiva. Effective treatment for periodontal tissue regeneration is important, because periodontal disease is related to several systemic diseases. However, various conventional therapies for periodontal tissue regeneration have shown limited and variable clinical outcomes. Thus, there are ongoing efforts to identify an alternative cell source, such as stem cells, for the development of new tissue engineering therapies. In this review, periodontal disease and the application of tissue engineering for periodontal tissue regeneration are discussed. In particular, adipose-derived stem cells are presented as an agent for restoring periodontal tissue defects.