 Bioactive glasses caused a revolution in healthcare and paved the way for biomaterial-driven regenerative medicine. 45S5-based glass products have been successfully implanted in millions of patients worldwide, mainly to repair bone and dental defects. The full potential of bioactive glasses seems still yet to be fulfilled and many of today's achievements were unthinkable when research began. This article was offered by Francesco Baino, Sapita Hamzala and Saeed Kargozer.