The purpose of this study was to evaluate mucous membrane irritation of biomaterials;pure titanium plasma-sprayed with hydroxyapatite-alumina(HA), gutta percha(GP) as negative control and polyvinyl chloride(PVC) as positive control using 50 golden hamsters. Each sample was fabricated into a shape of a disk of 5 mm in diameter and 0.5 mm in thickness, then fixed on hamster cheek pouch by suturing. The animals were sacrificed at the end of the 14-day test period. The pouches were everted and examined grossly for inflammation and ulcer. The samples were preserved in situ on the pouches at a rate of 42%. The pouches were dissected out, then 4 μm paraffin-embedded histologic sections were prepared to observe histopathologic features. Irritation score was higher in PVC group than in HA group and GP group. There was not large difference between HA group and GP group. It was suggested that HA would not promote irritant response to oral mucosa.
From the results, this mucous membrane irritation test using hamster's pouch is considered to be very useful to assess biomaterials in our field.