EFFECTS OF SURFACE MODIFICATIONS WITH OXALIC ACID ETCHING AND SANDBLASTING ON SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY AND BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF cpTi SURFACES

The objective of this study was to evaluate the topographical effects of titanium surfaces created by sandblasting and oxalic acid etching on the adhesion of human fetal osteoblast cells (CRL-11372) in vitro after 24 hours. Osteoblast cells were cultured on polished titanium (Ti) discs (Control Group), alumina (Al2O3) particle blasted and oxalic acid etched (20 min) Ti discs, oxalic acid etched polished Ti discs for 20 min, and oxalic acid etched Ti discs for 60 min. The topographies and roughness of the modified surfaces were assessed. Cell count, cell viability and morphologic differences between cells adhering to the modified surfaces were evaluated. The results showed that all surfaces, independent of surface roughness, favored cell adhesion with similar cell viabilities to that of the positive control group cells after 24 h. The highest R-a (average roughness) value was found for sandblasted and oxalic acid etched surfaces as 4.54 mu m. Acid etching with 10 % oxalic acid after sandblasting did not eliminate residual alumina particles. Surface modification processes ended up with similar mean total cell counts with each other, even exhibiting no differences from the positive control group in terms of their cell viabilities. Oxalic acid etching and sandblasting surface treatments represented in our study increased the surface roughness values and allowed adhesion of the CRL-11372 cells after 24 h of incubation