The titanium surface texture effects adherence and growth of human gingival keratinocytes and human maxillar osteoblast-like cells in vitro

The adhesion, orientation and proliferation of human gingival epithelial ce lls and human maxillar osteoblast-like cells in primary and secondary cultu re were studied on glossy polished, sandblasted and plasma-sprayed titanium surfaces by scanning electron microscopy and in thin sections. The primary cultured explants of human gingival epithelial cells attached, spread and proliferated on all titanium surfaces with the greatest extension on the po lished and the smallest extension on plasma-sprayed surfaces. In secondary suspension cultures of gingival keratinocytes, attachment spreading and gro wth was only observed on polished and plasma-sprayed surfaces, but not on s andblasted surfaces. Moreover, the attachment of these cells depended on th e seeding concentration as well as on the coating with fetal calf serum. Ce lls on polished surfaces developed an extremely flat cell shape, but on san dblasted and plasma-sprayed surfaces a more cuboidal shape. In contrast hum an maxillar osteoblasts seeded as secondary suspension cultures attached ve ry well to all three differently textured titanium surfaces and showed iden tical growth patterns independent of the titanium surface structure. These findings suggest that cell morphology, orientation, proliferation and adhes ion of human gingival epithelial cells in primary or secondary culture are dependent on the texture of the titanium surface whereas no such difference s were observed for maxillar osteoblast-like cells. In conclusion, the soft tissue integration and response is more influenced by the surface texture than the process of osseointegration. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.