THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CULTURE-MEDIUM ON HUMAN DENTAL-PULP CELL ATTACHMENT

Radiochromium-labelled pulpal cells were cultured with nine commercial ly available media and conditioned minimal essential (MEM) medium. Rad iochromium release from the 10 cell cultures was recorded after 4 h of incubation. Cells cultured with MEM and conditioned MEM were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after 2, 4, 8 and 24 h of incub ation to study possible differences in attachment. Radiochromium relea se from cells cultured with most of the media was very high, indicatin g damage to the external cell membrane. When cells were cultured with conditioned medium, the radiochromium release was within acceptable li mits. SEM showed faster attachment when cells were cultured with condi tioned MEM. The data indicate that pulpal cells should be cultured wit h conditioned medium for better results in short-term cytotoxicity exp eriments with the radiochromium release method.