The Effects Of Surface Roughness Of Pure Titanium On Human Gingival Fibroblasts: In Vitro Study

A stable connection between the biomaterial surface and thesurrounding tissue is one of the most important prerequisites for the long-term success of implants. Therefore, a strong adhesion of the cells on the biomaterial surface is required. Besides the surface composition, the surface topography influences the properties of the adherent cells. The aim of this investigation was to study the influence of the surface roughness of the c.p titanium on the attachment, orientation and shape of cultivated human gingival fibroblasts.C.p titanium plates were ground with SiC papers of different grains. Ra refers to arithmetic mean of the departures of the profile from the mean line. It is a common parameter used to describe the surface roughness. Pure titanium plates with different surface roughness(Ra value: 0.032 μ m, 0.103 μ m, 0.169 μ m and 0.281 μm respectively)were adopted to cultivate gingival fibroblasts in this study. Cell attachment and proliferation were measured by MTT. Cell spreading and orientation were observed under SEM. Cell number and cell shape were analyzed under a fluorescence microscopy. Cell Sf (shape factor) value was calculated by an IA system linked with a computer.Under SEM and fluorescence microscopy, fibroblasts on the ground titanium surfaces were observed to align themselves along the microgrooves on the surfaces. Cell number counts showed no significant difference in 4 groups. There was no significant difference as concerns the Sf value between groups while Ra vary from 0.032 um to 0.169urn. But Sf value significantly decreased when Ra was 0.281 u m.The presented experiment shows that the surface roughness of the c.p titanium alters cell orientation and cell shape. The surface roughness may be conducive to cellular attachment and function when the value of Ra is between 0.169 urn and 0.281 u m.