Hydrogen-Releasing Gel Speeds Healing After Tooth Extraction
- Authors
- Zhuoran Xu, Rong Yang, Ilya A Vinnikov, Linyong Zhu, Lei Li, Wenjie Zhang
- Journal
- Biomaterials
- Year
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2026.124191
- Study Type
- Cell Culture
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Dry Socket
- Body System
- Oral
TL;DR
A magnesium-based hydrogen-releasing hydrogel improved dry socket healing in preclinical models by reducing inflammation, promoting angiogenesis, and supporting alveolar bone regeneration.
Key Finding
A hydrogen-releasing hydrogel with magnesium microspheres promoted blood vessel growth and reduced excessive inflammation in dry socket healing models by releasing hydrogen gas in a sustained, localized manner.
Summary
Researchers developed a special gel containing magnesium that produces hydrogen gas when placed in the body. In laboratory and animal studies, this gel was tested as a treatment for dry socket, a painful condition that sometimes occurs after tooth extraction when the blood clot fails to form properly. The gel helped reduce inflammation, promoted the growth of new blood vessels, and supported bone healing by releasing hydrogen gas in a controlled, sustained manner.
Practical Takeaway
While these results are promising, this research is currently limited to laboratory and animal studies—human trials have not yet been conducted. The findings suggest hydrogen gas delivery through biomaterials may have therapeutic potential for wound healing, but much more research is needed before this approach could be considered for clinical use in patients.
Abstract
Dry socket (DS) is a stomatological complication after tooth removal when the blood clot gets dislodged. The delayed healing of DS presents a major clinical challenge, primarily because of the angiogenesis impairment. To address this limitation, we developed a dynamic hydrogel hosting functional magnesium microspheres (Mg/Gel) which initiate autonomous, directional and sustained hydrogen (H2) generation leading to the formation of hierarchical pores for vascularization. Beyond its role in providing physical support for vessel ingrowth, we found that Mg/Gel secures its localized and sustained H2 release due to strong bioadhesion to both gingiva and alveolar bone. The released H2 attenuates inflammation by regulating macrophage polarization through NF-κB signaling pathway and activates NRF2 to stabilize HIF-1α to promote angiogenesis in both in vitro and in vivo studies. Notably, DS implantation models revealed that Mg/Gel mitigates excessive inflammation responses in the early DS healing stage and enhances angiogenesis in the proliferative stage, thereby facilitating alveolar bone regeneration. These data suggest that our H2-releasing Mg/Gel with self-assembling porous structure spatiotemporally coordinates the healing, thus offering a transformative strategy for DS treatment.