Multiscale Design of Dental Restorative Materials: Mechanistic Foundations, Technological Innovations, and Clinical Translation

From conventional ceramics to bioinspired smart composites, this review charts the evolution of dental restorative biomaterials. Integrating materials innovation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and bioinspired strategies, it presents a roadmap for developing functional, clinically translatable restorations that combine durability, adaptability, and biological integration. These aim to create next‐generation solutions capable of sustaining long‐term oral health and enhancing patient quality of life. Abstract Dental restorative materials remain constrained by clinical unmet needs in biomechanical durability, bioactivity, and long‐term tissue integration, despite incremental advances in conventional ceramics and polymers. Addressing these gaps requires functional innovation. Multiscale design strategies bridge atomic‐level material engineering with macroscopic clinical performance. This review highlights transformative approaches, including bioinspired architectures (e.g., decellularized extracellular matrix scaffolds) that replicate native oral tissue mechanics while promoting cell‐driven remodeling, and smart interfaces (e.g., pH‐responsive polymers) for dynamic biofilm suppression. Functional enhancements are achieved via 3D printing for anatomically precise restorations, nanotechnology for crack‐resistant ceramics, and surface functionalization (e.g., graphene oxide coatings) to accelerate osseointegration. Emerging paradigms such as 4D‐printed shape‐memory composites and artificial intelligence (AI)‐driven inverse design further exemplify innovation by enabling self‐adapting materials and accelerated discovery of bioactive formulations. Critically, barriers are analyzed to clinical translation, including scalable manufacturing of hierarchical structures, mitigating biodegradation in aggressive oral environments, and balancing cost‐effectiveness with performance. By integrating mechanistic insights with clinical translation, this work provides a blueprint for next‐generation functional dental materials that reconcile laboratory innovation with real‐world clinical demands. From conventional ceramics to bioinspired smart composites, this review charts the evolution of dental restorative biomaterials. Integrating materials innovation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and bioinspired strategies, it presents a roadmap for developing functional, clinically translatable restorations that combine durability, adaptability, and biological integration. These aim to create next-generation solutions capable of sustaining long-term oral health and enhancing patient quality of life. Abstract Dental restorative materials remain constrained by clinical unmet needs in biomechanical durability, bioactivity, and long-term tissue integration, despite incremental advances in conventional ceramics and polymers. Addressing these gaps requires functional innovation. Multiscale design strategies bridge atomic-level material engineering with macroscopic clinical performance. This review highlights transformative approaches, including bioinspired architectures (e.g., decellularized extracellular matrix scaffolds) that replicate native oral tissue mechanics while promoting cell-driven remodeling, and smart interfaces (e.g., pH-responsive polymers) for dynamic biofilm suppression. Functional enhancements are achieved via 3D printing for anatomically precise restorations, nanotechnology for crack-resistant ceramics, and surface functionalization (e.g., graphene oxide coatings) to accelerate osseointegration. Emerging paradigms such as 4D-printed shape-memory composites and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven inverse design further exemplify innovation by enabling self-adapting materials and accelerated discovery of bioactive formulations. Critically, barriers are analyzed to clinical translation, including scalable manufacturing of hierarchical structures, mitigating biodegradation in aggressive oral environments, and balancing cost-effectiveness with performance. By integrating mechanistic insights with clinical translation, this work provides a blueprint for next-generation functional dental materials that reconcile laboratory innovation with real-world clinical demands. Advanced Science, Volume 12, Issue 48, December 29, 2025.