Effects of metal combinations on cytotoxicity evaluation using a dynamic extraction method.

The effects of metal combinations on cytotoxicity were examined following dynamic extraction by freely gyrating two spherical metals in a glass vessel. The cell viabilities of an Au alloy, a Ag-Pd-Au alloy and Ti were little affected by combinations among three metals. Cell viability ranged between 60 and 80% when precious alloys were in combination with Co-Cr or Ni-Cr alloys. Ti showed a clear difference in cell viability either in combination with Co-Cr or Ni-Cr alloys. The cell viability of the Ti/Co-Cr alloy combination was the same as that of precious alloys/Co-Cr or Ni-Cr alloy combinations. However, in an analogy with Co-Cr alloy/Ni-Cr alloy combination, the Ti/Ni-Cr alloy combination depressed the cell viability below 20%. This suggested that when new metals are to be used in combination with dissimilar metals, the cytotoxicity of the metals could be evaluated in extraction conditions using the mutual dynamic contact of dissimilar metals.