Surface Characteristics and Biocompatibility of Titanium Coated with Dentin-derived Hydroxyapatite

Kim, Hae Jin; Son, Mee Kyung; Lee, Kyung Ku; Lee, Bo Ah; Kim, Young Joon

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate surface characteristics and biological properties of the dentin-derived hydroxyapatite (HA) coating on titanium substrate. Dentin-derived HA was obtained from extracted human teeth using a calcination method at 850degrees C. The commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti, ASTM Grade II) was used as a metallic substrate and a radio frequency magnetron sputtering method was employed as a coating method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) were utilized to investigate the coating aspects and composition. Atomic forced microscopy (AFM) and a surface profiler were used to assess the surface morphology and roughness. Corrosion tests were performed in phosphate-buffered saline at a 36.5 +/- 1degrees C in order to determine the corrosion behavior of the uncoated and coated specimens. The biocompatibility of dentin-derived HA coated specimens with fetal rat calvarial cells and human gingival fibroblasts was assessed by SEM and cell proliferation analysis. The results showed that the dentin-derived HA coatings appeared to cover thinly and homogeneously the surfaces without changing of the titanium substrate. The EDX analysis of this the coating surface indicated the presence of Ca and P elements. The mean surface roughness of cp-Ti and dentin-derived coating specimens was 0.27 microm and, 1.7 microm, respectively. Corrosion tests indicated a stable passive film of the dentin-derived HA coating specimens. SEM observations of fetal rat calvarial cells and human fibroblast cells on coated surfaces showed that the cells proliferated and developed a network of dense interconnections. The cells on all specimens proliferated actively within the culture period, showing good cell viability. At day 1 and 3, dentin-derived coating specimens showed 89% and 93% cell viability, respectively, when normalized to cp-Ti specimens. These results suggest that dentin-derived HA coating using the RF magnetron sputtering method has good surface characteristics and biocompatibility.