Cytotoxicity of dental alloys, metals, and ceramics assessed by Millipore filter, agar overlay, and MTT tests☆
Section snippets
Material and methods
By using cells from a mouse fibroblast cell line and the agar overlay test, Millipore filter test, and MTT test, the cytotoxicity of various metals, metal alloys, and ceramics used to fabricate dental restorations was studied. The effects of altering the composition of a high noble gold alloy and of pretreatment of a ceramic-bonding alloy were also studied. By means of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometry, the release of elements (by the materials studied) into the cell
Results
The results of the Millipore filter, agar overlay, and MTT tests are listed in Table III.All the ceramics studied were rated “noncytotoxic.” The alloys intended for dental restorations were all rated “noncytotoxic” according to the Millipore filter and the agar overlay methods, with the exception of the JS G-gold, where the cytotoxic effect was influenced by the treatment (Table III).
Changes in the composition of the JS-C gold increased the cytotoxicity to levels comparable to that of Degussa
Discussion
There was no evidence of cytotoxicity in the dental ceramics studied, indicating good biocompatibility in vitro. Reports on biocompatibility problems with dental ceramics in vivo have been rare. Breakdown products of dental ceramics have not been reported to have known toxic effects, and several of the ions in dental ceramics are considered nontoxic.17 Bagambisa et al18 reported that dental ceramics, used as the substrate, impaired the overgrowth of an osteoblastic cell line and suggested that
Conclusions
On the basis of the results of this study, the materials intended for dental restorations were ranked noncytotoxic or mildly cytotoxic. The results revealed that alterations in the composition of an alloy can greatly influence its cytotoxicity and stress the importance of carefully following the manufacturers’ instructions when handling dental alloys. To ensure biocompatibility, alteration of the original composition or mixing of alloys in dental laboratories should be avoided. The release of
Supplementary Files
Acknowledgements
The valuable discussion and support from Dr Arne Hensten-Pettersen are gratefully acknowledged.
References (20)
- et al.
Human cell culture studies with dental metallic materials
Biomaterials
(1992) - et al.
Interfacial reactions of osteoblasts to dental and implant materials
J Oral Maxillofac Surg
(1994) Release of cobalt from cobalt chromium alloy constructions in the oral cavity of man
Scand J Dent Res
(1982)- et al.
Correlation between cytotoxicity and the elements released by dental casting alloys
Int J Prosthodont
(1995) - et al.
Reaction of fibroblasts to various dental casting alloys
J Oral Pathol
(1988) - et al.
Toxicity of copper-based dental alloys in cell culture
J Biomed Res
(1989) - et al.
The release of elements of dental casting alloys into cell-culture medium
J Dent Res
(1991) - et al.
A new osteoblast cell culture system for standardized testing of biomaterials
Biomed Tech (Berl)
(1996) - et al.
Biocompatibilty of a chromium-cobalt alloy studied in vitro
Dtsch Stomatol
(1991) Ceramics and glass as restorative materials
Cited by (0)
- ☆
Reprint requests to: Dr Göran Sjögren, Department of Dental Materials Science, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, SWEDEN, Fax: (46)90-775617, E-mail: [email protected]