Autophagy and Oral Tissue Regeneration: A Comprehensive Review

The oral cavity is a unique environment that requires constant remodeling and regeneration, and autophagy plays a crucial role in oral tissue regeneration. Additionally, the oral cavity is often colonized by a large number of bacteria, which can cause various oral diseases through infection and subsequent immune reactions. Autophagy has been found to be involved in controlling infectious agents, limiting inflammatory pathologies, regulating myeloid/lymphoid cell differentiation, and coordinating multicellular immunity. Furthermore, autophagy also contributes to the repairment of damaged tissue, indicating a close association between autophagy and oral tissue regeneration. Despite the growing number of studies on the involvement of autophagy in oral diseases and regeneration, there has been no comprehensive review on its role in oral tissue regeneration.