An overview on autologous fibrin glue in bone tissue engineering of maxillofacial surgery

The purpose of this review is to have an overview of the applications of the autologous fibrin glue as a bone graft substitute in maxillofacial injuries and defects. A search was conducted using the databases, MEDLINE or PubMed and Google Scholar for articles from 1985- 2016. The criteria were “Auto graft”, “Fibrin tissue adhesive”, “Tissue engineering”, “Maxillofacial injury”, and “Regenerative medicine”. Bone tissue engineering is a new promising approach for bone defect reconstruction. In this technique, cells are combined with three-dimensional scaffolds to provide a tissue-like structure to replace lost parts of the tissue. Fibrin as a natural scaffold, because of its biocompatibility and biodegradability, and the initial stability of the grafted stem cells is introduced as an excellent scaffold for tissue engineering. It promotes cell migration, proliferation, and matrix making via acceleration in angiogenesis. Growth factors in fibrin glue can stimulate and promote tissue repair. Autologous fibrin scaffolds are excellent candidates for tissue engineering so that they can be produced in faster, cheaper and larger quantities. Additionally, they are easy to use and probable of viral or prion transmission is largely decreased. Therefore, autologous fibrin glue appears to be promising scaffold in regenerative maxillofacial surgery.