A biomaterial is a non-biological material used in a medical device in order to interact with biological systems. Many different types of materials such as metals, ceramic or natural and synthetic polymers can be included in this definition. Most of the time they are used as mixed materials where the combination of two or more substances with their own characteristics results in a new material whose features will be superior to the ones of its components for the achievement of the objectives preset [1]. According to the length and characteristics of the contact with an organism, biomaterials can be classified as temporal and permanent and of intra or extra corporal location. According to their functions they can be used as support, diagnostic or treatment [2]. Some biomaterials contain drugs and they are considered as medicines, others may include living cells and become the so called “hybrid biomaterials”.

Elaboration of a biomaterial from a medicinal plant called Tonacaxochitl (Distictis buccinatoria (D.C.)) is presented in this work. The Tonacaxochitl is an endemic plant from Morelos state in Mexico. By means of solvents, active principles were extracted from the plant in an integral way. Obtained product (plant extract) was mixed with materials like clay and toncil. The biomaterial obtained from clay and toncil has shown anti-inflammatory activity, what makes it a useful tool for topic treatment of inflammation. Tests are being carried out with different extract concentrations to specify suitable concentrations to get effects on specific parts of the human body.

Infection due microbes on implant surfaces has a strong influence on healing and long term viability of dental implants. The prevention and control of biofilms can be achieved by reducing the bacterial adhesion on the surface. The coating of medical devices with silver, or the addition of silver nanoparticles, are two possible ways to prevent device-associated infections. On the other hand, amorphous carbon films, in its different forms and compositions, have been studied as beneficial surface modification for implant materials. However, the bacterial adhesion on these films by oral bacteria in comparison to standard surfaces (Ti and SS) has been seen to be relatively high. In the oral cavity, the microbial ecology is complex and consists of hundreds of bacterial species, and therefore it is recommendable to study bacteria adhesion using various strains. In this work, we tested the biocompatibility and the anti-microbial properties of amorphous carbon films with the addition of silver nanoparticles. The a-C:Ag films were deposited by co-sputtering in an Argon plasma using a target made of graphite with a small piece of pure silver. Biocompatibility tests were performed using osteoblast-like cells (MG63) and included: cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase specific activity and OPG. The bacterial adhesion test was evaluated after 1, 3 and 7 days of incubation. We used nine oral bacteria strains: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans serotype b, Actinomyces israelii, Campylobacter rectus, Eikenella corrodens, Fusobacterium nucleatum ss nucleatum, Parvimonas micra, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia and Streptococcus sanguinis. The effect of including silver in the a-C films was studied by X-ray Diffraction, Energy Dispersive spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results showed that the films had silver nanoparticles (40-60 nm) uniformly distributed in the carbon matrix. The silver was crystalline with a maximum content of around 6 at%. The biological tests showed that a-C:Ag films had good biocompatibility properties, allowing the osteoblast to proliferate and produced osteogenic local factors. Concerning the antimicrobial properties of the a-C:Ag films, we did not observe an effect of the silver particles on bacterial adherence after 1 and 3 days of incubation; however, a significant reduction was observed after 7 days, compared to the a-C, Ti films or the bare SS substrate, suggesting that silver nanoparticles have a time-dependent antimicrobial effect.

The purpose of the study was to reveal the effects of a new electropolishing process carried out under a constant magnetic field, termed as magnetoelectropolishing (MEP). In this work we investigated Nitinol rotary endodontic instruments by surface and morphology change after MEP. The MEP process greatly affects both surface also mechanical properties like the bending and fatigue resistance.

The investigation covered surface interferometry measurements, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) studies, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with EDAX studies referred to two groups of endodontic instruments: ready-to-use or as-received (AR) files, and magnetoelectropolished (MEP) instruments, in comparison with the instruments surface after a conventional electropolishing (EP). The treated surfaces of NiTi endodontic files were studied by interferometric method in view of getting multiple surface characteristics, together with digital data concerning the arithmetic mean height Sa and the maximum height of scale limited surface Sz.

The investigation results obtained have indicated a considerable improvement of MEP surface in comparison with both AR and EP surfaces. Such a surface after MEP reveals several positive features, decreased roughness, elimination of metallic state (here Ni and Ti elements) in the surface film, much enriched with titanium oxides and diminished nickel oxides. The study results show that the contents of Ni compounds is higher after EP (18.3%) than after MEP (10.2%), whereas the contents of Ti compounds is higher after MEP (83.4%) than after EP (76.6%). The total Ti/Ni ratio indicates almost double surpass of titanium over nickel in the surface film after MEP in comparison with the total amount of that ratio after EP.

The qualitative investigation of fatigue tests have indicated much better performance of NiTi endodontic file samples after MEP than those related to AR and/or after EP. We have proved that the magnetoelectropolishing process may further modify surface. The following studies are to be directed onto performance and specific mechanical properties of the endodontic files at work.

The corrosion resistance of biocompatible materials in body fluids is one of the essential factors in the determination of the lifetime of medical implants. Therefore, it is of great relevance to understand the interface processes that occur when a surface is exposed to body fluids. To this end, amorphous titanium and niobium oxide films were deposited on medical grade stainless steel using a magnetron sputtering system. The biocompatibility of the films was evaluated by adhesion and viability/proliferation assays using human cells, showing non-toxic response. The electrochemical response of the films was evaluated by poteontiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as a function of time, up to 500 hrs, using three different simulated body fluids; the NaCl solution and Hartman (Ringer's + Lactate) and Gey's (Ringer's + Phosphates + Glucose) solution. The results indicated that the chemical composition of the solution was very important since different electrochemical behavior was observed for each case. For example, NbOx showed a better resistance than the TiOx films in the Hartman's solution but it failed when Gey's solution was used. Meanwhile TiOx showed a well passivated response for both NaCl and Gey's solution.

Cementum contains specific molecules that could serve to identify, isolate and characterize the cementoblast lineage and to determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate the cementogenesis process, since it plays a key role during the periodontal regeneration process. One of these molecules is the human cementum protein 1 (CEMP1); which has a molecular weight of 25,9 kDa. In vitro experiments have shown that CEMP1 promotes cellular adhesion and differentiation. In addition, this protein has been implied in regulating the degree of deposition, composition and morphology of hydroxyapatite crystals formed by putative cementoblast in vitro. Therefore, it is possible that CEMP1 promotes the formation, growth and regulates the morphology of hydroxyapatite crystals in vitro. We have produced a human recombinant CEMP1 (hrCEMP1) in a prokaryotic system. The hrCEMP1 purification was realized using the column NiTA HisPrep FF/16. Assays of calcium phosphate crystal growth were realized by means of capillary counterdiffusion system. Our results demonstrated that hrCEMP1 promotes octacalcium phosphate crystal nucleation and possesses high affinity for hydroxyapatite. We infer that hrCEMP1 plays a key role during the regeneration of mineralized tissues.

A versatile and non destructive technique for a chemical modification by grafting N-vinylcaprolactam (VCL) monomer on the polylactic (PLA) film surface is described. The film substrate is treated with a VCL solution, hexane and benzophenone (BP), the latest promotes the photo initiation. Grafting percentage is derived by a gravimetric method and the success in grafting is evaluated by contact angle technique, UV and ATR-FTIR analysis. The influence of the photoinitiator concentration is evaluated by the polymerization rate (Cp), grafting percentage (Cg) and grafting efficiency (Eg). The modified surface shows higher level of humectation or hydrophilicity, confirming successful surface functionalization of the polylactic acid film.