Future of dental biomaterials: Gazing into Bob’s crystal ball

In February 2019, the American Prosthodontics Society asked me to “ponder” the future of dental biomaterials. This talk was titled, “Gazing Into Bob’s Crystal Ball”. My basic approach was guided by the words of Confucius, “Study the past if you would define the future.” As I have often studied and lectured on how many of our important materials got into dentistry, it was a natural assignment. In this article, I review how key materials came to be used in dental practice and organize these “sources” into an extended classification, assuming future materials will likely derive from one of these. Then, I identify important examples in each category and then expound on likely future developments, some already in progress. These include increasing the use of and benefiting from automated systems; better engineering with existing materials by means of failure analysis (from clinically retrieved specimens); iterative improvements in materials and practices, again based on observations from clinical behavior; the use of scaffolds for both hard- and soft-tissue repair; and the development of “smart” materials. I hope this contribution survives the test of time. Please note that, importantly, this list includes not just materials but often-overlooked steps in processing that will affect their properties and clinical durability.