Fibroblast Growth on Zirconia Ceramic and Titanium Disks After Application with Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Devices or with Antiseptics

Purpose: Fast wound healing after abutment connection may reduce infectious complications. Cold atmospheric pressure plasma can increase the hydrophilicity of abutment surfaces, and therefore, the cell attachment, cell density, and sealing could help hamper microbial penetration into the wound cavity. In this in vitro study, the effect of three different plasma devices and common antiseptics on cell growth after treatment on zirconia ceramic and titanium disks was analyzed. Materials and Methods: Specimens were treated for 5 minutes with the plasma devices kINPen 08, kINPen 09, or kINPen Chamber and for 15 minutes with the antiseptics chlorhexidine digluconate (0.2%), octenidine (0.1%), and ethanol (70%). After treatment, primary human fibroblast cells (HGF-1) were seeded and incubated for 1 and 24 hours. The cell area after 1 hour and cell density after 24 hours were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy images. Results: Water contact angles of both surfaces (95/96 degrees) were significantly reduced to 26 to 36 degrees (titanium) or 9 to 28 degrees (zirconia ceramic) after plasma treatment. On titanium only, the average cell area was significantly increased after 1 hour of cell incubation following kINPen 08 and kINPen 09 treatment. No significant differences between all three plasma devices and the untreated control were determined on both materials after 24 hours, whereas octenidine and chlorhexidine reduced cell surface covering. The cell density was significantly lower for all treatment regimens except octenidine on zirconia ceramic compared with titanium. Conclusion: Plasma reduced the water contact angle and supported cell covering on titanium in the early stage. Plasma devices had no discernible influence on cell covering after 24 hours of cell incubation, whereas chlorhexidine and octenidine hampered cell covering on both abutment surfaces. Keywords: abutment, chlorhexidine, cold atmospheric pressure plasma, ethanol, fibroblast, octenidine, surface treatment, titanium, zirconia ceramic