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Aim: the following work assessed the behavior of human Dental Pulp Stem Cells (hDPSC) on PEEK and Titanium samples, in particular their ability to adhere, proliferate and differentiate into osteoblasts. Methods: surface modifications were made to the samples by pre-established protocols of sandblasting and laser micropatterning, to modulate surface roughness. After roughening treatments, samples were divided into two groups: nontreated and treated with air-plasma cleaning process to modulate surface wettability. The hDPSCs were harvested from dental elements and, after expansion in the proper medium, were seeded on the samples to study their behavior. The analyses for the adhesion and the proliferation were performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Alamar Blue test, while the differentiation in osteoblasts was evaluated by measuring AlkalinePhosphatase activity. Results: all the samples tested are able to support hDPSCs adhesion, proliferation and differentiation in osteoblasts with differences depending on the material nature and surface. Laser micropatterned titanium samples, in particular, were the best performing in terms of cell differentiation. Air-plasma treatment does not affect cell adhesion and proliferation but improves cell differentiation, in particular on Titanium samples. Conclusion: PEEK and Titanium are confirmed as excellent materials to support the adhesion, the proliferation and the differentiation of the hDPSCs. The biological behavior is strong

Fluoride-releasing restorative dental materials can be beneficial to remineralize dentin and help prevent secondary caries. However, the effects of fluoride release from dental materials on the activity of dental pulp stem cells are not known. Here we investigate whether different fluoride release kinetics from dental resins supplemented with modified hydrotalcite (RK-F10) or fluoride-glass filler (RK-FG10) could influence the behavior of a human dental pulp stem cell subpopulation (STRO-1+ cells) known for its ability to differentiate toward an odontoblast-like phenotype. The 2 resins, characterized by similar physicochemical properties and fluoride content, exhibited different long-term fluoride release kinetics. Our data demonstrate that long-term exposure of STRO-1+ cells to a continuous release of a low amount of fluoride by RK-F10 increases their migratory response to transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) and stromal cell–derived factor 1 (SDF-1), both important promoters of pulp stem cell recruitment. Moreover, the expression patterns of dentin sialoprotein ( dspp), dentin matrix protein 1 ( dmp1), osteocalcin ( ocn), and matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein ( mepe) indicate a complete odontoblast-like cell differentiation only when STRO-1+ cells were cultured on RK-F10. On the contrary, RK-FG10, characterized by an initial fluoride release burst and reduced lifetime of the delivery, did not elicit any significant effect on both STRO-1+ cell migration and differentiation. Taken together, our results highlight the importance of taking into account fluoride release kinetics in addition to fluoride concentration when designing new fluoride-restorative materials.