title: Analysis in vitro of the cytotoxicity of potential implant materials. I: Zirconia-titania sintered ceramics.
abstract: Zirconia (ZrO2) is a bioinert, strong, and tough ceramic, while titania (TiO2) is bioactive but has poor mechanical properties. It is expected that ZrO2-TiO2 mixed ceramics incorporate the individual properties of both ceramics, so that this material would exhibit better biological properties. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the biocompatibility properties of ZrO2-TiO2 mixed ceramics. Sintered ceramics pellets, obtained from powders of TiO2, ZrO2, and three different ZrO2-TiO2 mixed oxides were used. Roughnesses, X-ray diffraction, microstructure through SEM, hardness, and DRIFT characterizations were performed. For biocompatibility analysis cultured FMM1 fibroblasts were plated on the top of disks and counted in SEM micrographs 1 and 2 days later. Data were compared by ANOVA complemented by Tukey's test. All samples presented high densities and similar microstructure. The H2O content in the mixed ceramics was more evident than in pure ceramics. The number of fibroblasts attached to the disks increased significantly independently of the experimental group. The cell growth on the top of the ZrO2-TiO2 samples was similar and significantly higher than those of TiO2 and ZrO2 samples. Our in vitro experiments showed that the ZrO2-TiO2 sintered ceramics are biocompatible allowing faster cell growth than pure oxides ceramics. The improvement of hardness is proportional to the ZrO2 content. Thus, the ZrO2-TiO2 sintered ceramics could be considered as potential implant material.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas-CCNH, Universidade Federal do ABC, UFABC, Santo André, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marchi
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais-CCTM, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares-IPEN, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valter
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ussui
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Dentística, Faculdade de Odontologia Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Delfino
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia de Materiais-CCTM, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares-IPEN, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana H A
authors.initials: AHA
authors.lastname: Bressiani
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Dentística, Faculdade de Odontologia Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Márcia M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Marques
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D019736:Prostheses and Implants / Q000009:adverse effects; D014025:Titanium; D015040:Zirconium
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; C009495:titanium dioxide; D015040:Zirconium; D014025:Titanium; C028541:zirconium oxide