The osteoblastic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells and bone formation on different titanium surface textures

Bone Tissue Engineering (BTE) and Dental Implantology (DI) require the integration of implanted structures, with well characterized surfaces, in bone. In this work we have challenged acid-etched titanium (AET) and Laser Sintered Titanium (LST) surfaces with either human osteoblasts or stem cells from human dental pulps (DPSCs), to understand their osteointegration and clinical use capability of derived implants. DPSCs and human osteoblasts were challenged with the two titanium surfaces, either in plane cultures or in a roller apparatus within a culture chamber, for hours up to a month. During the cultures cells on the titanium surfaces were examined for histology, protein secretion and gene expression. Results show that a complete osteointegration using human DPSCs has been obtained: these cells were capable to quickly differentiate into osteoblasts and endotheliocytes and, then, able to produce bone tissue along the implant surfaces. Osteoblast differentiation of DPSCs and bone morphogenetic protein production was obtained in a better and quicker way, when challenging stem cells with the LST surfaces. This successful BTE in a comparatively short time gives interesting data suggesting that LST is a promising alternative for clinical use in DI. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.