O objetivo do presente trabalho é avaliar a citotoxicidade de quatro diferentes marcas comerciais de elásticos inter-maxilares intra-orais. Foram avaliados elásticos da American Orthodontics (Grupo 1), 3M Unitek (Grupo 2), Morelli (Grupo3) e Uniden (Grupo 4). Os elásticos foram previamente esterilizados em luz ultravioleta e colocados em placas de Petri, as quais continham cultura de células HEp-2., Após 24 h, as monocamadas de células foram coradas e, em seguida, realizada uma avaliação dos halos de difusão e de lise celular. Os resultados demonstraram a ausência de citotoxicidade nos elásticos da marca American Orthodontic e 3M Unitek e alta citotoxicidade nos elásticos das marcas Morelli e Uniden. Com base nos resultados encontrados, através da metodologia utilizada, conclui-se que os elásticos da marca Morelli e Uniden são citotóxicos.

The objective of the present study is to evaluate the cytotoxicity of four different commercial brands of intermaxillary orthodontic elastics. Four commercial brands of elastics were evaluated: American Orthodontics (Group1), 3M Unitek (Group 2), Morelli (Group 3) and Uniden (Group 4).The elastics were previously sterilized with Ultraviolet light and placed in Petri dish which tissue culture HEp-2. After 24 hr, the monolayers of cells were ruddystained with violet crystal and followed by an evaluation of the diffusion halo and cells lyses. The results demonstrated no cytotoxity for the American Orthodontic and the 3M Unitek elastics, and hight cytotoxicity for Morelli and Uniden elastics. Based on the results found, supported by the methodology utilized, it was concluded that the Morelli and Uniden elastics present high cytotoxicity.

Powder metallurgy techniques have been used to produce controlled porous structures, such as the porous coatings applied for dental and orthopedic surgical implants, which allow bony tissue ingrowth within the implant surface improving fixation. This work presents the processing and characterization of titanium porous coatings of different porosity levels, processed through powder metallurgy techniques. Pure titanium sponge powders were used for coating and Ti-6Al7Nb powder metallurgy rods were used as substrates. Characterization was made through quantitative metallographic image analysis using optical light microscope for coating porosity data and SEM analysis for evaluation of the coating/substrate interface integrity. The results allowed optimization of the processing parameters in order to obtain porous coatings that meet the requirements for use as implants.