Biological evaluation of ultra-fine titanium with improved mechanical strength for dental implant engineering

• Published in: Journal of materials science Vol. 51; no. 6; pp. 3097 - 3110
• Main Authors: Ostrovska, Lucie, Vistejnova, Lucie, Dzugan, Jan, Slama, Peter, Kubina, Tomas, Ukraintsev, Egor, Kubies, Dana, Kralickova, Milena, Hubalek Kalbacova, Marie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-03-2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Atomic force microscopy; Biocompatibility; Biomedical materials; Cell adhesion; Cell adhesion & migration; cell growth; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Contact angle; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Cultivation; Dental implants; Dental materials; dental prosthesis; engineering; Equal channel angular pressing; Grain size; grinding; humans; manufacturing; Materials Science; Mechanical engineering; Mechanical properties; Morphology; Original Paper; osteoblasts; plastics; Polymer Sciences; pressing; Solid Mechanics; Stem cells; Strength; Surgical implants; tissue culture; Titanium; Titanium base alloys; Transplants & implants; Focal Adhesion; Equal Channel Angular Pressing; Atomic Force Microscopy; Contact Angle; Severe Plastic Deformation
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-015-9619-3

Titanium, the gold standard for dental implant materials, is distinguished by its exceptional biocompatibility; however, from a long-term perspective, titanium still lacks sufficient loading strength. Commercially pure titanium with grain size 30 μm was processed by equal channel angular pressing, and two novel mechanically improved types of titanium material with grain size 4.6 and ≤1 µm were obtained. The surfaces of these ultra-fine grained titanium samples were further mechanically treated by grinding and polishing, and their surfaces were characterized by atomic force microscopy and contact angle measurement. Osteoblast-like cells and human mesenchymal stem cells were used to evaluate the cytocompatibility of these titanium samples. The cell metabolic activity, cell number, cell area, morphology, and cell adhesion quality during the early stage (2 h) and prolonged cultivation (48 h) were determined. Both cell types displayed increased initial attachment to all tested titanium materials in comparison to reference tissue culture plastic. Importantly, results revealed that the novel titanium materials with improved strength were equivalent to the original commercially pure titanium, thus confirming their suitability for osteoblast and mesenchymal stem cell growth and proliferation. The present study proved the cytocompatibility of the novel forms of titanium with superior mechanical properties and revealed their potential for manufacturing of long-term dental implants.