Titanium (Ti) is the most commonly used biomaterial for dental implants. When inserting Ti implants into jawbones, the main issue is the lack of strong bonding between the Ti implant and the host bone (osseointegration). Inspired by the outstanding adhesion performance of natural phenolic compounds on metal substrates and promoting effect for cell adhesion, we coated a natural plant extract, Dipterocarpus tuberculatus (MED), on Ti implants. We tested three groups of Ti plates and screw-shaped fixtures: nontreated Ti as commercially produced, ozone-treated Ti as commonly used surface modification for dental implants, and MED-coated Ti. Interestingly, the MED coating on the Ti plate preserved the surface wetting property for 20 days, whereas the hydrophilic wetting of ozone-treated Ti was readily transformed to hydrophobic within a day. Computerized tomography and histopathological analysis revealed that MED coating enhanced new bone tissue formation and regeneration. The gene expression level of integrin as a bone cell adhesion receptor and its downstream key regulators was significantly increased than that of ozone-treated Ti. Therefore, we suggest considering MED-mediated cell signaling pathways in screening natural products for cell adhesion and osseointegration, and MED as a suitable coating agent for improving Ti implantation.
Keywords: Dipterocarpus tuberculatus; adhesion; osseointegration; titanium implant.