Effect of fluoride-ion implantation on the biocompatibility of titanium for dental applications

This study stressed on the effect of fluoride-ion implantation upon the biocompatibility of titanium. By using plasma immersion ion implantation technique, fluoride ions were implanted into the smooth surface of pure titanium. The chemical composition and physical structure of the modified surface layers were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as scanning electron microscope (SEM). At the same time, in vitro co-culture assays were performed to evaluate the biocompatibility of MG-63 cells to the modified titanium. It was confirmed by SEM observations that cell growth on the fluoride-ion-implanted titanium acquired better morphological characters. In addition, the cells on the fluoride-ion-implanted titanium showed the more increasingly and rapidly substrates-attaching capabilities than those on the non-implanted titanium via aridine orange stain assay. Fluoride-ion-implanted titanium could increase the percentages of cells in S phase but without affecting the ratios of cells in G0/G1 and G2/M phases was confirmed by flow cytometry assay. The current results indicated that fluoride-ion implantation could improve the biocompatibility of titanium.