In vitro efficacy of CaCO₃ content in CaTiO₃ - CaCO₃ composites for bone growth

The effect of CaTiO₃ compounded with different amounts of CaCO₃ on osteoblastic KUSA/A1 cells was evaluated. CaTiO₃-CaCO₃ composites were obtained by alkoxide method, a simple, low-cost and reproducible technique used for large-scale production of material. The content of CaCO₃ in our samples was controlled by varying the sintering time of the overall process. Composite morphology was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showing particles with sizes ranging from100 to 500 nm. The presence of CaCO₃ was revealed by XRD and thermogravimetric analyses, which suggested that samples treated at 650ºC for 30 min contained higher amounts of CaCO₃ than samples treated for 2 and 10 h. Additionally, in vitro studies demonstrated that CaTiO₃–CaCO₃ composites sintered for 30 min induced augmented cell proliferation and mineralization in comparison to composites sintered for longer periods of time. Hence, our findings clearly suggest that the amount of CaCO₃ within CaTiO₃-CaCO₃ composites exerts a critical effect on osteoblastic cells response. Enhanced bone regeneration could be achieved by increasing the content of CaCO₃ within the composites, thus establishing CaTiO₃-CaCO₃ as a promising material for bone augmentation procedures in dental field.