Reactions in the interface between tissues and pure titanium

—Biocompatibility of gold and titanium—

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the reactions in the interface between tissues and pure titanium. The adsorption behaviors of the extracellular matrix proteins HFG and HFN on titanium and gold were compared. The amount of adsorbed proteins on the metallic surfaces was measured after adsorption and desorption tests, using atomic force microscopy. The conformation changes of the proteins adsorbed were examined with a Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer. The results showed that the adsorption of the two proteins were greater on the titanium plates than on the gold plates. It is reasonable to assume that proteins adsorb to surfaces through several steps, and that both HFG and HFN attach mainly to gold by physical adsorption, but to titanium by chemical adsorption. Furthermore, the conformation changes for both test proteins were greater on the titanium plates than on the gold plates. The initial adsorption of extracellular matrix proteins to metal is an important factor in determining the biocompatibility of a dental material in the oral cavity. This testing method might be effective when developing new active dental implants.