Improvement in Biocompatibility of Fluoridated Apatite with Addition of Resorbable Glass.

The biocompatibility of fluoridated apatite (FHA) was significantly improved by the addition of a resorbable phosphate-based glass. With the addition of small amounts of the glass (up to 5%) to the FHA, a completely densified body was obtained after sintering at 1250°C. The resultant crystalline phase was composed of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and FHA. The addition of the glass to the FHA significantly improved the viability and functional activity of osteoblastic cells, while these were only slightly improved when the glass was added to pure hydroxyapatite, demonstrating that the fluoridation and glass addition had a synergistic stimulatory effect. This finding suggests that the glass-added FHA bioceramic would be highly useful as a hard tissue reconstructive material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]