Toxic effects of various retrograde root filling materials on gingival fibroblasts and rat sarcoma cells

The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of amalgam, glass ionomer, composite and titanium on the growth of gingival fibroblasts (GF) and rat sarcoma cells (UMR) in vitro. The cells were either obtained from gingival biopsies taken during deliberation of unerupted canines (GF) or were of commercial origin (UMR). Equal numbers of cells were placed on culture dishes and incubated for a period of two weeks with the freshly prepared test materials. The cultures were photographed through a light microscope after 7 days incubation and finally counted after 14 days. It was shown that the proliferation of gingival fibroblasts was less disturbed by titanium, being approximately 96% of the control value (cell cultures without test particles), followed by composite, amalgam and glass ionomer (61%, 49% and 35% of the control value respectively). The number of UMR cells after 14 days incubation with the various materials was 76% of the control value with titanium, 12% with composite and 5% with both amalgam and glass ionomer. Inhibition of cell growth (UMR) around the test particles was most prominent around amalgam and glass ionomer, followed by composite and titanium. These effects were noted only with freshly prepared components however, so that the toxic reaction was less pronounced or minimal in a second incubation using the same particles sterilized in between. The results demonstrated that potential retrograde root filling materials have a variable toxic effect on gingival fibroblasts and rat sarcoma cells. The fact that the influence on proliferation disappeared when the test was performed with materials already tested once may be of clinical importance when estimating the biocompatibility in vivo.