Using calcium silicate to regulate the physicochemical and biological properties when using β-tricalcium phosphate as bone cement

β-Tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) is an osteoconductive material. For this research we have combined it with a low degradation calcium silicate (CS) to enhance its bioactive and osteostimulative properties. To check its effectiveness, a series of β-TCP/CS composites with different ratios were prepared to make new bioactive and biodegradable biocomposites for bone repair. Regarding the formation of bone-like apatite, the diametral tensile strength as well as the ion release and weight loss of composites were compared both before and after immersions in simulated body fluid (SBF). In addition, we also examined the behavior of human dental pulp cells (hDPCs) cultured on β-TCP/CS composites. The results show that the apatite deposition ability of the β-TCP/CS composites improves as the CS content is increased. For composites with more than a 60% CS content, the samples become completely covered by a dense bone-like apatite layer. At the end of the immersion period, weight losses of 24%, 32%, 34%, 38%, 41%, and 45% were observed for the composites containing 0%, 20%, 40%, 80%, 80% and 100% β-TCP cements, respectively. In addition, the antibacterial activity of CS/β-TCP composite improves as the CS-content is increased. In vitro cell experiments show that the CS-rich composites promote human dental pulp cell (hDPC) proliferation and differentiation. However, when the CS quantity in the composite is less than 60%, the quantity of cells and osteogenesis protein of hDPCs is stimulated by Si released from the β-TCP/CS composites. The degradation of β-TCP and the osteogenesis of CS give strong reason to believe that these calcium-based composite cements will prove to be effective bone repair materials.