Cytotoxicity of dental composites and other materials in a new in vitro device.

Several in vitro methods have been developed over the years to improve correlation between screening tests and usage tests of dental restorative materials. Pulpal responses to restorative materials in usage tests are usually less severe than are responses of cells either in vitro screening tests or in implantation tests where there is direct contact between experimental materials and vital cells. In the "in vitro pulp chamber" device tested in the present study, dentin disks were interspersed between composite resins (as well as other dental materials) and the medium which served as the nutrient source for the Balb/c 3T3 test cell system. The dentin restricted the diffusion of materials into the "pulp chamber" to clinically relevant levels. The light-cured composite resins (Fulfil and P30), caused depression of protein synthesis only during the first 24 h postpolymerization, when placed on 0.5 mm but not 1.5 mm thick dentin dishes. The chemically-set composites (SILAR and P10) caused no significant inhibition of protein synthesis (as compared to negative controls) at any postpolymerization time on either 0.5 mm or 1.5 mm dentin disks.