Fig. 3

a Cell adhesion assy. Cell nuclei stained with DAPI on both samples were imaged by confocal laser scanning microscopy at 1, 4, and 24 h after seeding (× 100). b SEM morphology of HGFs adhered on tantalum-coated titanium and titanium plates at 1 h and 4 h, noting that cells on Ta-coated Ti plates at 4 h with more extensively spread cytoplasm than those on Ti plates, the green arrow represented the filopodium-like projections of spreading gingival fibroblast cells. c Statistical results of adhesive cell numbers. *p < 0.001, **p < 0.0001 when compared with Ti group