Effects of storage methods on time-related changes of titanium surface properties and cellular response

Abstract

Titanium implants are sold in the market as storable medical devices. All the implants have a certain shelf life during which they maintain their sterility, but variations of the surface properties through this duration have not been subject to a comprehensive assessment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of storage methods on time-related changes of titanium surface properties. Acid-etched titanium discs (Sa = 0.82 µm) were placed in a sealed container (tradition method) or submerged in the ddH(2)O/NaCl solution (0.15 mol L(-1))/CaCl(2) solution (0.15 mol L(-1)), and new titanium discs were used as a control group. SEM and optical profiler showed that surface morphology and roughness did not change within different groups, but the XPS analysis confirmed that the surface chemistry altered by different storage protocols as the storage duration increased, and the contact angle also varied with storage methods. The storage method also affected the protein adsorption capacity and cellular response on the titanium surface. All titanium discs stored in the solution maintained their excellent bioactivity even after four weeks storage time, but titanium discs stored in a traditional manner decreased substantially in an age-dependent manner. Much effort is needed to improve the storage methods in order to maintain the bioactivity of a titanium dental implant.

Decontamination of titanium implants using physical methods

“…SEM is useful to visualize the surfaces morphology and the presence of biofilm but this technique does not quantitatively or accurately measure the complete biofilm removal or the changes in the implant surfaces after treatment (Lu et al. ). Moreover, contamination of the implant surfaces reduces the surface free energy and hinders implant biocompatibility (Louropoulou et al.…”

“…However, there has been little emphasis on evaluating the removal of other surface contaminants at the molecular and atomic levels. SEM is useful to visualize the surfaces morphology and the presence of biofilm but this technique does not quantitatively or accurately measure the complete biofilm removal or the changes in the implant surfaces after treatment (Lu et al 2012). Moreover, contamination of the implant surfaces reduces the surface free energy and hinders implant biocompatibility (Louropoulou et al 2014), which could negatively affect re-osseointegration.…”

Titanium implants coated with UV‐irradiated vitamin D precursor and vitamin E: in vivo performance and coating stability

“…For instance, it has been proved that the biological potential of an old Ti implant is lower than a new one as it is exposed to air adsorbing unavoidably contaminations, changing the surface composition (Lu et al. ). Thus, UV treatment of Ti surfaces is an example of strategy overcoming time‐related degrading bioactivity (Suzuki et al.…”

“…Furthermore, the shelf life of common titanium materials designed for the clinical practice rarely has been recorded; very few investigations have studied the effects of storage methods and time-related bioactivity of these biomaterials. But due to its clinical relevance, there is increasing awareness and interest in this issue Ferraris et al 2012;Lu et al 2012;Ueno et al 2012;Guillot et al 2013;Wang et al 2013). For instance, it has been proved that the biological potential of an old Ti implant is lower than a new one as it is exposed to air adsorbing unavoidably contaminations, changing the surface composition (Lu et al 2012).…”

“…But due to its clinical relevance, there is increasing awareness and interest in this issue Ferraris et al 2012;Lu et al 2012;Ueno et al 2012;Guillot et al 2013;Wang et al 2013). For instance, it has been proved that the biological potential of an old Ti implant is lower than a new one as it is exposed to air adsorbing unavoidably contaminations, changing the surface composition (Lu et al 2012). Thus, UV treatment of Ti surfaces is an example of strategy overcoming timerelated degrading bioactivity ).…”