Spreading of human fibroblasts on pretreated human root dentine

The spreading of fibroblasts on human dentine and dentine treated with solutions containing fluorides, chlorhexidine or citric acid was determined in vitro. The surface active properties of the test solutions (except for citric acid) with regard to ground and polished dentine were monitored by surface free energy determinations calculated from contact angles. None of the solutions tested drastically altered the surface free energy of dentine, which remained rather high in the range of 73 erg.cm-2. Application of fluoride containing solutions and citric acid decreased the spreading of fibroblasts significantly (p less than 0.05), whereas only chlorhexidine enhanced the spreading of cells (p less than 0.05). This study indicates that the use of fluoride containing solutions should be avoided during and after periodontal surgery and scaling. Chlorhexidine would be recommended however both on the basis of its known antiplaque properties as well as on the basis of its enhancement of cell spreading demonstrated in this study.