Influence of Zirconia-Coated Bioactive Glass on Gingival Fibroblast Behavior

Abstract

The objective of this study was the development of a bioactive glass coating on zirconia (Zr) to modulate the gingival fibroblast phenotype. For this purpose, Biosilicate® (BS) particles in a water/isopropyl alcohol (1:1) vehicle (6 mg/mL) were applied to zirconia discs followed by thermal treatment at 1100 °C for 20 min. The surface topography (SEM), chemical composition (EDX), surface roughness (Ra; confocal microscopy), surface free energy (goniometry), and color alteration (UV-vis spectrophotometry) were assessed (n=6). Thereafter, L929 fibroblasts were seeded onto Zr and Zr+BS discs, and cell proliferation (Alamar Blue; n=6), morphology (SEM; n=2), migration (wound healing; n=4), and collagen synthesis (Sirius Red; n=6) were evaluated up to 7 days. Data were analyzed by ANOVA/Tukey tests (a=5%). A homogeneous coating consisting of Si, Na, O, and Ca was detected on the Zr surface after thermal treatment with BS, which led to a significant increase in surface roughness and free energy (p<0.05). No change in color parameters was observed (p>0.05). Cells seeded on the Zr+BS surface featured increased proliferation, collagen expression, and migration capability in comparison with those cultured on plain Zr (p<0.05). SEM images revealed that cell spreading occurred faster in the presence of BS. Therefore, it was concluded that thermal treatment of the Zr surface with BS led to the deposition of a bioactive coating, which induced gingival fibroblast spread, proliferation, migration, and collagen expression in vitro.

Novas estratégias para aprimorar as propriedades de superfície do titânio e controle de biofilmes relacionados à infecções peri-implantares

“…Peri-implant biofilm control is an important characteristic to be considered in surface treatments proposed for dental implants 7 . However, previous studies with bioactive glasses coatings are focused on improving osseointegration and little is known about microbiological behavior 17,32 .…”

“…BG particles have been also incorporated on Ti alloys [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] and zirconia substrate 17,25,31,32 aiming application in dental implants. For this, different methods such as dip-coating 28 , air abrasion 33 , vitreous enamelling 34 , plasma spraying 35 , flame spraying 26 , sputtering 27,36 , laser deposition 24,29 , and electrophoretic deposition 30,37 were employed for particle incorporation on metal surfaces.…”