In this review, we first briefly introduce the general knowledge of glass–ceramics, including the discovery and development, the application, the microstructure, and the manufacturing of glass–ceramics. Second, the review presents a detailed description of glass–ceramics in dentistry. In this part, the history, property requirements, and manufacturing techniques of dental glass–ceramics are reviewed. The review provided a brief description of the most prevalent clinically used examples of dental glass–ceramics, namely, mica, leucite, and lithium disilicate glass–ceramics. In addition, we also introduce the newly developed ZrO₂–SiO₂ nanocrystalline glass–ceramics that show great potential as a new generation of dental glass–ceramics. Traditional strengthening mechanisms of glass–ceramics, including interlocking, ZrO₂–reinforced, and thermal residual stress effects, are discussed. Finally, a perspective and outlook for future directions in developing new dental glass–ceramics is provided to offer inspiration to the dental materials community.

Macrophages play an important role in the immune microenvironment during bone healing, and sequential macrophage phenotypic transition could achieve superior osteogenic outcomes. Microcrystalline bioactive glasses (MCBGs) with osteoimmunomodulatory effects show potential in bone tissue regeneration. Zinc (Zn) has been approved to coordinate innate and adaptive immunity. Therefore, in this study, different amounts of ZnO were incorporated into microcrystalline bioactive glass to improve its immunomodulatory ability. The effect of Zn-MCBG ionic extracts on macrophage transition was studied, and the 5Zn-MCBG extracts could orchestrate sequential M1-to-M2 macrophage transition and promote the expression of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory genes and cytokine expression to induce human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) osteogenic differentiation in vitro. Macroporous Zn-MCBG scaffolds containing mesopores were fabricated and showed good cell adhesion and feasible apatite formation when immersed in SBF in vitro. Furthermore, a rat calvarial defect model was used to confirm that the Zn-MCBG scaffold could modulate macrophage phenotypic transition and create a desirable osteogenic microenvironment to promote osteogenesis in vivo.

Self-setting bioceramic microneedles are fabricated using a simple manufacturing procedure under mild conditions and could be substitutes for current microneedles.