Effect of Portland cement on human dental-pulp cells vibility

Introduction: Mineral trioxide aggregate is an endodontic material which has biocompatibility and provide an excellent sealing, non toxic and inducing the tissues regeneration. The basic subtance of MTA is cement Portland enriched by bismuth oxide to give radiopacity property. Some studies report that MTA and Portland cement have similar mechanical and chemical constituents. However, there were only few reports using human pulps cells to assess the citotoxicity effect of Portland cement in vitro. Objective: To compare the citotoxicity effect of the grey and the white Portland cement when co-cultured with human dental-pulp cells. Methods: Human dental-pulp cells were obtained from caries free teeth which were extracted for orthodontic treatment. The teeth were cracked to obtain the pulp tissue, then were cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10% FBS. The cells were used after fifth and sixth passages, and the specimens were soaked for 1 and 7 days with DMEM-free serum prior to be seeded into human dental-pulp cells in 24-well cultur plate. Subsequently,the effect was assesed using MTT assay. Results: Viability test showed that white Portland cement has no citotoxicity effect on human dental pulp cells, but the grey has. However, statistical analysis showed no significant different between the two effects. Conclusion: This study demonstrates, both the white and the grey Portland cement showed similar properti as biocompatible material when co-coltured with human dental-pulp cells in vitro.