Recent advances in gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) −based hydrogels for oral tissue engineering: applications, dilemmas, and future prospects

Oral diseases such as tissue defects, inflammation, and tumors are highly prevalent, and can lead to functional impairment and facial disfigurement, necessitating effective therapeutic strategies. Tissue engineering, which employs biomaterial scaffolds loaded with stem cells and growth factors, has emerged as a promising strategy to overcome the limitations of conventional treatments, such as infection and immune rejection. However, the therapeutic efficacy of tissue engineering is intrinsically constrained by scaffold properties, underscoring the critical need for biomaterials with superior physicochemical and biological performance. Gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) hydrogels have attracted increasing attention owing to their exceptional biocompatibility, light-responsive properties, and tunable mechanical characteristics. By adjusting synthesis parameters and integrating bioactive materials, GelMA functions as an advanced drug delivery system and stem cell scaffold. Whereas, a comprehensive review of GelMA in oral tissue engineering is currently lacking. This review first concludes the structure, synthesis, and properties of GelMA hydrogels, proposing optimization strategies. It then systematically explores their therapeutic applications across five key domains of oral tissue engineering. Finally, existing challenges and future directions for GelMA-based strategies are emphasized.