Cell culture tests for assessing the tolerance of soft tissue to variously modified titanium surfaces

The aim of our research project was to achieve an improvement in the integration of enossal dental implants in the region of peri-implantary soft tissue. Improvement in the adhesion of the gingiva of the surface of enossal implants was to be achieved by modification of the titanium surface. The effect of different modifications on the biocompatibility of the modified titanium surfaces was tested: sulfur dioxide plasma treatment of titanium; acetylene plasma treatment of titanium followed by sulfur dioxide plasma etching; plasma nitration of titanium; replacement of titanium by glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane; coating titanium with poly[(ethene-co-vinyl acetate)-graft-vinyl chloride] and coating titanium with fibronectin. Determination of the chemical composition of the surface was carried out using X-ray photospectroscopy. The adsorption of fibronectin at the surface of the titanium was tested using an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. In selected in vitro tests with human gingival fibroblasts, cell morphology was assessed using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. Cell proliferation and protein synthesis, as well as the activity of mitochondrial dehydrogenases were evaluated. By means of centrifugation and by determining initial cell adhesion, the adhesion of gingival fibroblasts was investigated. According to the kind of modification made to the titanium surfaces, it was possible to observe differences in the cellular behavior of gingiva fibroblasts on the differently modified surfaces of the implants. Coating the titanium using fibronectin produced optimization of cell growth and improvement in the adhesion of gingiva fibroblasts to the implant surface. In contrast, modification of the titanium with poly[(ethene-co-vinyl acetate)-graft-vinyl chloride] generally resulted in a deterioration of the biocompatibility of the surface. A marked correlation between the cellular compatibility of the modified titanium and the surface modification made did not become apparent. One reason for this is the large number of parameters determining the interaction between implant and tissue.