Abstract: Dental materials including restorative materials and auxiliary materials are used for repairing injured or missing human maxillofacial soft and hard tissues. At present, the types of dental materials include metals, ceramics, inorganics, polymers and composites, among which polymeric materials have a variety of excellent controllable physical/chemical properties due to their tailorable molecular structure. Here is a summary of the applications of polymer materials in dentistry such as prevention medicine, restoration medicine and regenerative medicine. Furthermore, this paper reviews the existing problems and cutting-edge research directions, and prospects for the future development and commercialization of medical polymer materials in the dental field. The polymer materials for oral prevention mainly include plaque indicator which can show the bacteria to help children to develop good oral health habits and anti-caries materials which can resist bacterial erosion and demineralization by forming a fluoride-releasing protective film on the tooth surface. The polymer materials used in oral cavity repair are mainly composite resin materials including polymerized resin and fillers, which can be used to fill small defects and as repair dentures. It is difficult to improve the service life of the materials. The main solution is to enhance the antibacterial properties, mechanical strength and environmental stability. The polymer materials for tissue regeneration are implants and maxillofacial tissue repair materials. Although implant is produced using titanium and its alloy, the surface modification by polymer has advantages on reducing peri-implantitis and new high-performance polymer, like polyetheretherketone（PEEK）, can better match the elastic modulus with the natural bone than metal materials. Direct bone replacement materials are using inorganic apatite as main substances, but polymer materials as tissue engineering scaffold for bone regeneration are still in development. Other polymer materials include not only mature auxiliary products for dental technicians, but also advanced regenerative materials like enamel-like substances, remineralize dentin and bio-root, which are expected to realize clinical transformation and product application in the future.