[Human gingival fibroblast cultures for biological intra-oral material testing]

Cell cultures are useful screening methods for biocompatibility tests, as they provide information on the effects of test material on their metabolism. Primary cultures of human gingival fibroblasts play a special role, because they are organ-specific and because their metabolic state is virtually the same as that of in vivo cell material. Their characteristic growth pattern makes them excellent candidates for testing toxicity and stimulatory factors. Four methods were used for validating the data obtained. Possibilities of culturing these highly specialized cells are shown, techniques for assessing the cytotoxicity of test materials are presented and discussed.