Induction of specific cell responses to a Ca(3)SiO(5)-based posterior restorative material.

Objectives: A Ca(3)SiO(5)-based cement has been developed to circumvent the shortcomings of traditional filling materials. The purpose of this work was to evaluate its genotoxicity, cytotoxicity and effects on the target cells' specific functions.

Methods: Ames' test was applied on four Salmonella typhimurium strains. The micronuclei test was studied on human lymphocytes. The cytotoxicity (MTT test), the Comet assay and the effects on the specific functions by immunohistochemistry were performed on human pulp fibroblasts.

Results: Ames' test did not show any evidence of mutagenicity. The incidence of lymphocytes with micronuclei and the percentage of tail DNA in the Comet assay were similar to the negative control. The percentage of cell mortality with the new cement as performed with the MTT test was similar to that of biocompatible materials such as mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and was less than that obtained with Dycal. The new material does not affect the target cells' specific functions such as mineralization, as well as expression of collagen I, dentin sialoprotein and Nestin.

Significance: The new cement is biocompatible and does not affect the specific functions of target cells. It can be used safely in the clinic as a single bulk restorative material without any conditioning treatment. It can be used as a potential alternative to traditionally used posterior restorative materials.