The In Vitro Impact of Two Scaffold-Type Structure Dental Ceramics on the Viability, Morphology, and Cellular Migration of Pharyngeal Cancer Cells

There is a growing trend with respect to the use of ceramic materials in dental practice. With an increase in the number of cases of head and neck cancer, the use of dental implants in these patients is subject to controversy. Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of two ceramic materials on the viability, proliferation, migration, and structure of the cytoskeleton and nuclei of pharyngeal cancer cells. Therefore, samples of the two ceramic were immersed in artificial saliva with three different pH values in order to better simulate the natural biological environment. A 21-day immersion period was followed by testing of the saliva on pharyngeal cancer cell line Detroit-562 for its viability, morphology, and migration, as well as its effects on the nucleus and cytoskeleton. The results of the study after stimulation of Detroit-562 cells for 72 h with the three types of artificial saliva in which the ceramic materials were immersed indicated the following: (i) viability of cells did not change significantly, with the percentage of viable cells not falling below 90%; (ii) no morphological changes were recorded, with the shape and number of cells being similar to that of the control cells; (iii) the scratch assay method indicated that the two types of ceramics do not stimulate cell migration; and (iv) fluorescence immunocytochemistry revealed that both the nucleus and the cytoskeleton distributions were unaltered, as they were observed in unstimulated cells. The preliminary results of the study indicate that the investigated ceramic materials did not interact unfavorably with tumor cells when immersed in artificial saliva, thereby supporting the possibility of their safe use in cancer patients.