ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To suggest a chemical surface treatment for titanium and to initiate the formation of hydroxycarbonated apatite (HCA) on titanium surface during in vitro bioactivity tests in simulated body fluid (SBF).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>To improve the bone-bonding ability of Ti implants, commercially pure titanium (cpTi) by a simple chemical pre-treatment in orthophosphoric acid (H(3)PO(4)) with different density was activated, and then the phosphorylation specimens were soaked in SBF to investigate the function of biomineralization.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs showed that the surfaces of the pre-treated samples were characterized by a complex construction, which consisted of a mesh-like morphology matrix (a micro-roughened surface) and an uniform surface with different morphous of titanium dihydrogen orthophosphate [Ti(H(2)PO(4))(3)] crystal. After 14 days in SBF a homogeneous biomimetic apatite layer precipitated.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>These data suggest that the treatment of titanium by acid etching in orthophosphoric acid is a suitable method to provide the titanium implant with bone-bonding ability.</p>