Revisiting ceramics for medical applications.

The most significant demand for biomaterials has emerged as a consequence of the need to provide clinical treatment to a large number of patients. The search for potential solutions produces a large demand for materials suitable for bone repair or replacement. Calcium phosphates, bio-glasses, bio-glass ceramics and ordered silica mesoporous materials, among other types of materials, will be reviewed and studied from the point of view of their potential applications as replacement materials in bone repair and regeneration, as potential substrates in tissue engineering, and also as drug delivery systems. An overview on the present achievements, but also on the "missing links" will be presented.