Abstract
Modifying the composition of dental restorative materials with antimicrobial agents might induce their antibacterial potential against cariogenic bacteria, e.g., S. mutans and L. acidophilus, as well as antifungal effect on C. albicans that are major oral pathogens. Essential oils (EOs) are widely known for antimicrobial activity and are successfully used in dental industry. The study aimed at evaluating antibacterial and antifungal activity of EOs and composite resin material (CR) modified with EO against oral pathogens. Ten EOs (i.e., anise, cinnamon, citronella, clove, geranium, lavender, limette, mint, rosemary thyme) were tested using agar diffusion method. Cinnamon and thyme EOs showed significantly highest antibacterial activity against S. mutans and L. acidophilus among all tested EOs. Anise and limette EOs showed no antibacterial activity against S. mutans. All tested EOs exhibited antifungal activity against C. albicans, whereas cinnamon EO showed significantly highest and limette EO significantly lowest activity. Next, 1, 2 or 5 µL of cinnamon EO was introduced into 2 g of CR and microbiologically tested. The modified CR showed higher antimicrobial activity in comparison to unmodified one. CR containing 2 µL of EO showed the best antimicrobial properties against S. mutans and C. albicans, while CR modified with 1 µL of EO showed the best antimicrobial properties against L. acidophilus.
Highlights
Resin composites are the most commonly used dental restorative materials
The most effective essential oil would be selected to incorporate into resin material and the secondary aim of the study was to evaluate antimicrobial activity against S. mutans, L. acidophilus and C. albicans of the modified resin composite material
The present study investigated antibacterial activity of ten essential oils against three tested in one study seemed advantageous as the experiment was performed in the same standardized cariogenic pathogens: S. mutans, L. acidophilus and C. albicans
Summary
Resin composites are the most commonly used dental restorative materials. They are composed of organic matrix and inorganic filler and their properties can be modeled with addition of specific components. The literature provides data on various modifications of dental composites and adhesives performed to enhance their physico-chemical, mechanical and antimicrobial properties [1,2,3,4,5]. Among antibacterial agents introduced into the composition of dental resin materials, most commonly described in the literature are nanoparticles, such as silver, gold, titanium dioxide, zinc oxide or calcium phosphate, as well as fluoride-containing filler and fluoride compounds [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. Essential oils (EOs) could be promising alternative to contribute to the antimicrobial effect of resin composite materials [13,14]
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