In vitro attachment of human gingival fibroblasts to endosseous implant materials

In recent years, the focus of dental implant research has been the nature of the bone-implant interface associated with osseointegration, yet the transgingival portion of endosseous dental implants has received little attention. The purpose of this study was to determine the attachment of human gingival fibroblasts to three different implant materials: commercially pure titanium, non-porous hydroxyapatite, and porous hydroxyapatite. Cell attachment was quantified by radiolabeling gingival fibroblasts with tritiated thymidine and counting attached cells by liquid scintillation following incubation for periods of 20, 40, and 60 minutes. Additional studies coating implant surfaces with fibronectin were also performed. The nature of the implant material itself appeared to affect the number of attached cells. Determined on a surface area basis, fibroblast attachment was greatest to titanium followed by non-porous hydroxyapatite. Porous hydroxyapatite demonstrated the least amount of fibroblast attachment. When incubated with fibronectin at a concentration of 50 micrograms/ml, no increase in the number of cells attached to the various implant materials was observed. A small but statistically significant increase in the number of fibroblasts attached to porous hydroxyapatite at 40 minutes was observed when implant materials were pre-treated with fibronectin.