Copyright © 2013 Peng Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Infection associated with titanium implants remains the most common serious complication in hard tissue replacement surgery. Since such postoperative infections are usually difficult to cure, it is critical to find optimal strategies for preventing infections. In this study, TiO₂ coating incorporating silver (Ag) nanoparticles were fabricated on pure titanium by microarc oxidation and ion implantation. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by exposing the specimens to Staphylococcus aureus and comparing the reaction of the pathogens to Ti-MAO-Ag with Ti-MAO controls. Ti-MAO-Ag clearly inhibited bacterial colonization more than the control specimen. The coating’s antibacterial ability was enhanced by increasing the dose of silver ion implantation, and Ti-MAO-Ag20.0 had the best antibacterial ability. In addition, cytocompatibility was assessed by culturing cell colonies on the specimens. The cells grew well on both specimens. These findings indicate that surface modification by means of this process combining MAO and silver ion implantation is useful in providing antibacterial activity and exhibits cytocompatibility with titanium implants.