Relative Contributions of Surface Roughness and Crystalline Structure to the Biocompatibility of Titanium Nitride and Titanium Oxide Coatings Deposited by PVD and TPS Coatings

This study was conducted to characterize titanium (Ti) metal surfaces modified by polishing, coating with titanium nitride, coating with titanium oxide, sandblasting with alumina (Al2O3) particles and coating with titanium oxide, coating with titanium plasma spray (TPS); and to evaluate the effect of surface roughness and crystalline structure on adhesion of human fetal osteoblast cells (CRL-11372) in vitro after 24 hours. Surface topography and roughness were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a noncontacting optical profilometer, respectively. The crystalline structures of the coatings were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). CRL-11372 cells were incubated at these surfaces for 24 h and were evaluated for their mean total cell counts and cell viabilities. Cell morphologies were examined qualitatively by SEM images. Glass discs served as control group (CG) for the cell culture experiments. Surfaces at the Group TPS had the highest and values. Highest mean total cell counts were found for the CG. SC (sandblasted and TiO2 coated) surfaces had shown sparsely oriented CRL-11372 cells while other surfaces and CG showed confluency. Surfaces displayed diverse crystalline structures. Crystalline structures led to different cellular adhesion responses among the groups regardless of the surface roughness values.