Abstract
White spot lesions (WSLs) are very frequent alterations during orthodontic treatments causing demineralization of the dental enamel. Various dental treatments have been developed to prevent WSLs; the prevalence and incidence of these lesions remain significantly high. Although silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have demonstrated good inhibitory effects against several microorganisms, more studies about antiadherence activity on different orthodontic appliance surfaces are necessary. To determine the inhibitory effect and antiadherence activity of AgNPs on the adhesion of S. mutans on surfaces of brackets and wires for orthodontic therapies, two sizes of AgNPs were prepared and characterized. The evaluation of S. mutans adhesion was performed with microbiological assays on surfaces of brackets and orthodontic modules in triplicate. Topographic characteristics of orthodontic brackets and wires were made by scanning electron and atomic force microscopies. All AgNP samples inhibited S. mutans adhesion; however, the smaller AgNPs had better inhibition than the larger ones. The presence of the module influenced the adhesion of S. mutans but not in the activity of AgNPs. The AgNPs used in this study showed to have good antimicrobial and antiadherence properties against S. mutans bacteria determining its high potential use for the control of WSLs in orthodontic treatments.
Highlights
Dental caries is the most prevalent and multifactorial oral disease and still considered as a serious worldwide oral health problem [1]
Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) has been considered the principal oral pathogen involved in the development of dental caries [5]; these bacteria have been associated with other systemic diseases, such as bacteremia and infective endocarditis because of its great ability of the bacteria to adhere to tooth surfaces [6, 7]
There are several studies that demonstrate the antimicrobial activity of the Although silver nanoparticles (AgNPs); there are no enough studies that have evaluated the effect of the AgNPs on the adhesion of S. mutans bacteria on surfaces of brackets and wires used for conventional orthodontic treatments
Summary
Dental caries is the most prevalent and multifactorial oral disease and still considered as a serious worldwide oral health problem [1]. Various scientific reports have determined that the orthodontic treatments significantly increase the risk of WSLs by the poor oral hygiene associated with more retentive surface area for food and limited oral hygiene skills [3, 8, 9]; other factors as dental susceptibility and chemical conditions could be associated [10] This is a clinical problem resulting in an unacceptable esthetic presentation that, in some severe cases, may require restorative treatments [11]. The aim of this work was to prepare and characterize two different sizes of AgNPs and evaluate its inhibition effect and antiadherence activity against the S. mutans strain on surfaces of orthodontic brackets and three different types of orthodontic wires
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