Mesoporous Calcium Silicate Nanoparticles with Drug Delivery and Odontogenesis Properties

Calcium silicate (CS) -based materials play an important role in the development of endodontic materials that induce bone/cementum tissue regeneration and inhibit bacterial viability. The aim of this study was to prepare novel mesoporous CS (MesoCS) nanoparticles that have osteogenic, drug delivery, and antibacterial characteristics for endodontic materials and also have an excellent ability to develop apatite mineralization.

The MesoCS nanoparticles were prepared using sol-gel methods. In addition, the mesoporous structure, specific surface area, pore volume, and morphology of the MesoCS nanoparticles were analyzed. The apatite mineralization ability, in vitro odontogenic differentiation, drug delivery, and antibacterial properties of the MesoCS nanoparticles were further investigated.

The results indicate that the 200-nm-sized MesoCS nanoparticles synthesized using a facile template method exhibited a high specific surface area and pore volume with internal mesopores (average pore size = 3.05 nm). Furthermore, the MesoCS nanoparticles can be used as drug carriers to maintain sustained release of gentamicin and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2). The MesoCS-loaded FGF-2 might stimulate more odontogenic-related protein than CS because of the FGF-2 release.

Based on this work, it can be inferred that MesoCS nanoparticles are potentially useful endodontic materials for biocompatible and osteogenic dental pulp tissue regenerative materials.