Research progress of zinc-containing bioactive materials in oral and maxillofacial tissue repair

Repair of orofacial tissue remains a clinical challenge, as conventional materials often fail to meet multiple requirements such as biocompatibility, antibacterial activity, anti-inflammatory effects, and tissue regeneration. Zinc (Zn)-containing biomaterials have recently emerged as a research focus due to their unique biological properties, offering new strategies to address this challenge. This article summarizes the latest research on Zn-containing bioactive materials in this field. It first elucidates the mechanisms by which these biomaterials exert antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and tissue-regenerative effects. The Zn²⁺ released during degradation inhibits bacterial growth by interfering with bacterial metabolism, remodels the immune microenvironment by regulating macrophage polarization and recruiting neutrophils, promotes fibroblast proliferation to accelerate soft tissue repair by activating signaling pathways such as PI3K/Akt, and enhances osteogenic differentiation through pathways such as Wnt/β-catenin. Based on these mechanisms, this review further elaborates on the design strategies of zinc-containing biomaterials for treating maxillofacial bone defects, fractures, periodontitis, peri-implantitis, and oral mucosal diseases, analyzing how to modulate the release behavior of Zn²⁺ to achieve antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and tissue-regenerative functions. Despite this progress, challenges remain, including imprecise Zn²⁺ release, inadequate temporal regulation, insufficient long-term biosafety data, and lack of standardized clinical translation protocols. Future research can focus on developing smart Zn²⁺-controlled release systems, constructing biomimetic spatiotemporal regulatory platforms, assessing long-term biosafety using advanced technologies such as organoids or organ chips, and establishing systematic clinical translation evaluation frameworks. This review aimed to provide research frameworks for further development and clinical application of Zn-containing biomaterials in orofacial reconstruction.