In vitro toxicity of spiroorthocarbonate monomers designed for non-shrinking dental restoratives

In development of photopolymerized expanding monomers with epoxy resin systems, there is a need for reactive expanding monomers that exert a good biocompatibility profile. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro toxicology of new spiroorthocarbonates designed to be expanding monomers. The expanding monomers investigated were: trans/trans-2,3,8,9-di(tetramethylene)-1,5,7,11-tetraoxaspiro[5,5] undecane (DTM-TOSU), 5,5-diethyl-19-oxadispiro-[1,3-dioxane-2,2'-1,3-dioxane-5',4'-bicy clo[4.1.0]heptane] (DECHE-TOSU); 3,9-diethyl-3,9-dipropionyloxy methyl-1,5,7,11-tetraoxaspiro[5.5]undecane (DEDPM-TOSU); and 3,9-diethyl-3,9-diacetoxy methyl-1,5,7,11-tetraoxaspiro[5.5]undecane (DAMDE-TOSU). The in vitro toxicology of these monomers measured their cytotoxicity and mutagenicity potential. Succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in the MTT assay was used to assess the toxic dose that kills 50% of cells (TC50) for all the monomers. Their mutagenic potential was measured in the Ames Salmonella assay with and without metabolic activation. Two solvents, DMSO and acetone, were used to validate effects. Appropriate controls included the solvents alone. All the expanding monomers in this study were less cytotoxic than BISGMA (p < 0.01), a commercial component of dental restoratives. The relative cytotoxicity of the expanding monomers in DMSO was defined in the following order: DTM-TOSU (more toxic) > DECHE-TOSU > DEDPM-TOSU > DAMDE-TOSU. Each was significantly different from the other (p < 0.05). Overall, the TC50 values of all expanding monomers were significantly greater in DMSO than in acetone (p < 0.05). However, for BISGMA this trend was opposite. For mutagenicity results, the expanding monomers were non-mutagenic and there was no solvent effect on this outcome. The non-mutagenicity and low cytotoxicity profile of these expanding monomers suggests their potential for development of biocompatible non-shrinking composites.