Sol-gel derived bioactive coating on zirconia: Effect on flexural strength and cell proliferation

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of sol-gel derived bioactive coatings on the biaxial flexural strength and fibroblast proliferation of zirconia, aimed to be used as an implant abutment material. Yttrium stabilized zirconia disc-shaped specimens were cut, ground, sintered, and finally cleansed ultrasonically in each of acetone and ethanol for 5 minutes. Three experimental groups (n=15) were fabricated, zirconia with sol-gel derived titania (TiO2) coating, zirconia with sol-gel derived zirconia (ZrO2) coating, and non-coated zirconia as a control. The surfaces of the specimens were analyzed through images taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and a non-contact tapping mode atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to record the surface topography and roughness of the coated specimens. Biaxial flexural strength values were determined using the piston-on-three ball technique. Human gingival fibroblast proliferation on the surface of the specimens was evaluated using AlamarBlue assay (TM). Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's post-hoc test. Additionally, the biaxial flexural strength data was also statistically analyzed with the Weibull distribution. The biaxial flexural strength of zirconia specimens was unaffected (p>0.05). Weibull modulus of TiO2 coated and ZrO2 coated groups (5.7 and 5.4, respectively) were lower than the control (8.0). Specimens coated with ZrO2 showed significantly lower fibroblast proliferation compared to other groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, sol-gel derived coatings have no influence on the flexural strength of zirconia. ZrO2 coated specimens showed significantly lower cell proliferation after 12 days than TiO2 coated or non-coated control. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.