Study Of A Micro/nano Structured Titanium Surface Prepared By Silver Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation On Surface Treated By Sandblasting And Acid-etching Technique

OBJECTIVE: Plasma immersion ion implantation technique(PIII) is one of the most used nano-modified techniques on titanium. The purposes of this study were to incorporate silver(Ag) into the micro-scale surface, obtained by sandblasting and acid-etching technique, using silver plasma immersion ion implantation system and to investigate the antibacterial effect, cytotoxicity effect and histocompatibility of the micro/nano surface.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The materials and processes being used in this study are listed as following:(1) Micro-scale roughed titanium surfaces were obtained by sandblasting and acid-etching technique. Silver plasma ion implantation technique were followed to incorporate silver nanoparticles(Ag NPs) into the SLA surface via different treatment times of 30 min, 60 min and 90 min respectively. Then micro/nano structured titanium surfaces were obtained.(2) Field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and Inductively coupled pasma-optical emission spectrometry(ICP-OES) were used to characterize the surfaces of each group of samples.(3) Staphylococcus aureus(S.a) and Fusobacterium nucleatum(F.n) were used to evaluate the antibacterial effect of the surfaces.(4) Rat bone marrow stromal cells(r BMSCs) were used to evaluate cellular responses including cell proliferation, spreading, and osteogenic differentiation on the surfaces of the materials.(5) The histocompatibility of the materials were assessed in an implantation animal model of Labrador dogs.RESULTS:(1) Different doses of Ag NPs were incorporated into a micro/nano structured titanium surface via Ag PIII. The FE-SEM showed the diameter of Ag NPs ranged from 5nm to 40 nm when the Ag PIII treatment time was controlled from 30 min to 90 min.(2) All of the tested samples demonstrated enhanced antibacterial effect, while the group of 90 min-30 Ag PIII was the best.(3) Similar results of spreading, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation ability of r BMSCs were observed on all the samples.(4) Normal soft tissue attachment and enhanced bone apposition around dental implants inserted in Labarador dogs were found in the assessment in vivo. There is no significant signs of any complications of dental implants.CONCLUSION: The current study showed that an Ag NPs modified micro/nano structure of titanium surface could be formed by the combination of SLA and Ag PIII. Different sized Ag NPs could be formed by different treatment times, which could greatly influence the antibacterial effect positively. All the treated samples exhibited good histocompatibility and no sign of cytotoxicity was observed. Enhance bone apposition around dental implants could be found around Ag PIII treated groups.