Calcium phosphate bioceramics fabricated from extracted human teeth for tooth tissue engineering

Bioceramic tooth powders were prepared via heat treatment of extracted human teeth using sintering temperatures between 600 degrees C and 1200 degrees C, and their properties were investigated for potential tooth tissue engineering. The sintered human tooth powders were characterized using thermal analysis (thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA)), field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Additionally, the phase constitutions and chemical homogeneities of the composite samples were examined using a quantitative chemical analysis with inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy. The results revealed that the annealing process produced useful hydroxyapatite-based bioceramic biomaterials when annealed above 1000 degrees C. The FTIR spectra and the TG/DTA thermograms of the tooth powders indicated the presence of organic compounds, which were completely removed after annealing at temperatures above 1000 degrees C. The tooth powders annealed between 1000 degrees C and 1200 degrees C had good characteristics as bioceramic biomaterials. Furthermore, the biocompatibility of each tooth powder was evaluated using in vitro and in vivo techniques; our results indicate that the prepared human tooth powders have great potential for tooth tissue engineering applications. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 99B: 399-411, 2011.