Additive manufacturing of functionally graded porous titanium scaffolds for dental applications.

Graded porous titanium scaffolds are gaining increasing attention as dental implants due to their ability to mimic the mechanical and biological properties of human bone. In this study, we have developed titanium scaffolds with graded primitive structures with porosities of 50.7 %, 61.0 %, 70.5 %, and 80.3 % (denoted as P50, P60, P70, and P80, respectively) for dental applications. The simulation results in the oral environment showed that the maximum von Mises strains and stress of cortical bone tissue around P50, P60, and P70 were lower than 3000 µÎµ and 60 MPa, respectively, which was beneficial for bone regeneration. The elastic modulus and yield strength of P50, P60, and P70 ranged within 5.2-13.8 GPa and 88.6-217.8 MPa, respectively. Among these, P60 exhibited the most favorable mechanical properties with a compression yield strength of 163.2 MPa and an elastic modulus of 9.7 GPa, which are desirable mechanical properties for dental material applications. The tested permeabilities of the fabricated specimens were in the range 0.66-6.88 × 10-9 m2, which is within the range of human bone (0.01-12.10 × 10-9 m2). In vitro biocompatibility assay results showed that P60 and P70 had better potential for cell viability and osteogenesis than P50. It can be concluded that P60, which has a compatible elastic modulus, high yield strength, high permeability, good cytocompatibility, and osteogenesis properties, is a promising candidate for bone-tissue engineering applications in dentistry.

Characteristics of novel Ti-10Mo-xCu alloy by powder metallurgy for potential biomedical implant applications.

When biomaterials are implanted in the human body, the surfaces of the implants become favorable sites for microbial adhesion and biofilm formation, causing peri-implant infection which frequently results in the failure of prosthetics and revision surgery. Ti-Mo alloy is one of the commonly used implant materials for load-bearing bone replacement, and the prevention of infection of Ti-Mo implants is therefore crucial. In this study, bacterial inhibitory copper (Cu) was added to Ti-Mo matrix to develop a novel Ti-Mo-Cu alloy with bacterial inhibitory property. The effects of Cu content on microstructure, tensile properties, cytocompatibility, and bacterial inhibitory ability of Ti-Mo-Cu alloy were systematically investigated. Results revealed that Ti-10Mo-1Cu alloy consisted of α and ß phases, while there were a few Ti2Cu intermetallic compounds existed for Ti-10Mo-3Cu and Ti-10Mo-5Cu alloys, in addition to α and ß phases. The tensile strength of Ti-10Mo-xCu alloy increased with Cu content while elongation decreased. Ti-10Mo-3Cu alloy exhibited an optimal tensile strength of 1098.1 MPa and elongation of 5.2%. Cytocompatibility study indicated that none of the Ti-10Mo-xCu alloys had a negative effect on MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation. Bacterial inhibitory rates against S. aureus and E. coli increased with the increase in Cu content of Ti-10Mo-xCu alloy, within the ranges of 20-60% and 15-50%, respectively. Taken together, this study suggests that Ti-10Mo-3Cu alloy with high strength, acceptable elongation, excellent cytocompatibility, and the bacterial inhibitory property is a promising candidate for biomedical implant applications.