Stem cell-mediated root regeneration offers opportunities to regenerate a 
bio-root and its associated periodontal tissues to restore tooth loss. 
Periodontal ligament (PDL) and cementum complex and dentin pulp complex have 
been tissue engineered using human dental pulp stem cells and PDL stem cells, 
respectively. The aim of this study was to explore whether dentin formation 
could be induced using an inductive substrate and whether bioengineered dentin 
could induce cementum and PDL formation. First, dentin was bioengineered from 
tooth papillae of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with an inductive substrate, and its 
phenotype was characterized; then primarily cultured human PDL cells were seeded 
on the surface of dentin and transplanted under the skin of immunocompromised 
mice. Histological, immunohistochemical, and scanning electronic microscopy 
examinations results showed that bioengineered dentin could induce 
cementogenesis and PDL formation, and condense PDL arranged perpendicularly on 
the dentin surface via a layer of cementum-like tissue. The results indicated 
that tissue-engineered dentin could be induced using an inductive substrate and 
could be used as a further substrate for cementum and PDL tissue engineering.