Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of natural and synthetic polymers.

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Natural polymers	Inherently bioactive Possess cell-interactive groups on their backbones Offer better cell attachment, growth, multiplication and differentiation Chemically benign degradation products Elicit low immune response	Difficult processing Low cost effectiveness Poor mechanical properties Precarious outcome due to batch-to-batch variations Insufficient mechanical strength Hydrophilicity Need of crosslinking to improve strength
Synthetic polymers	High flexibility in the processing More economical Tunable mechanical properties Higher mechanical strength Better structural stability	Lacking bioactivity May produce intense immune response Necessitate more modifications compared to natural polymers to impart bioactivity