Cytotoxic effects of denture adhesives on primary human oral keratinocytes, fibroblasts and permanent L929 cell lines

BackgroundTo date, there have been very little data on the cytotoxic responses of different cell lines to denture adhesives. ObjectiveTo determine the cytotoxicity of three denture adhesives on primary human oral keratinocytes (HOKs), fibroblasts (HOFs) and permanent mouse fibroblasts cell lines (L929). MethodsThree commercial denture adhesives (two creams and one powder) were prepared for indirect contact using the agar diffusion test, as well as extracts in MTT assay. The results of the MTT assay were statistically analysed by one-way anova and Tukey's test (p<0.05). ResultsAll of the tested denture adhesives showed mild to moderate cytotoxicity to primary HOKs (p<0.001), whereas none of three was toxic to L929 cells (p>0.05) in both assays. For primary HOFs cultures, slight cytotoxicity was observed for one of the products from the agar diffusion test and undiluted eluates of all tested adhesives with MTT assay (p<0.01). ConclusionDenture adhesives are toxic to the primary HOKs and HOFs cultures, whereas non-toxic to L929 cells. The results suggest that primary human oral mucosal cells may provide more valuable information in toxicity screening of denture adhesives.