Does the Addition of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Improve the Antibacterial Properties of Direct Dental Composite Resins? A Systematic Review.

Divya Arun,Nur Mohammad Monsur Hassan,Rumana Gulam Mohamed,Dileep Sharma,Dulanja Adikari Mudiyanselage,Michael Liddell

doi:10.3390/ma14010040

Abstract

A promising approach to improve the poor antibacterial properties of dental composite resins has been the addition of metal oxide nanoparticles into the resin matrix. This systematic review aimed to determine whether the addition of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) improves the antibacterial properties of direct dental composite resins. This review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and registered with the PROSPERO database: CRD42019131383. A systematic literature search was conducted using the following databases: Medline (Ovid), the Cochrane Library, SCOPUS, CINAHL, Web of Science, Trove, Google Scholar, World Cat, and OpenGrey. The initial search retrieved 3178 results, which were then screened against inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in a total of four studies that were eligible for qualitative synthesis within this review. All the included studies were in vitro non-randomized post-test design experimental studies. A lack of congruity in the results obtained from these studies that used different tests to evaluate antibacterial activity was evident. Although some studies demonstrated a significant improvement of antibacterial properties in composites containing at least 1% ZnO-NPs (wt %), they are unlikely to present any clear clinical advantage due to the short lifetime of observed antibacterial properties.

Highlights

Dental caries is a widespread infectious disease, in which the hard tooth structure is demineralized as a result of the acid produced by the bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates
Some in vitro and in vivo studies have reported that composite resin surfaces, due to its surface roughness, tend to harbor more bacterial plaque when compared with other restorative materials such as silver amalgam, glass ionomer cements (GIC), and dental hard tissues such as enamel [4,5,6,7]
Three of the studies included in this review investigated the antibacterial properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) composite resins via a direct contact test where the variable of viable colonyforming units (CFUs) was measured [11,25]

Summary

Introduction

Dental caries is a widespread infectious disease, in which the hard tooth structure is demineralized as a result of the acid produced by the bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates. Some in vitro and in vivo studies have reported that composite resin surfaces, due to its surface roughness, tend to harbor more bacterial plaque when compared with other restorative materials such as silver amalgam, glass ionomer cements (GIC), and dental hard tissues such as enamel [4,5,6,7]. A significant amount of research has been conducted on the incorporation of antibacterial agents into direct dental composite resins. Examples of these agents include fluoride, chlorhexidine, quaternary ammonium, and metal oxide particles/ions such as silver, gold, titanium, and zinc [12,13,14,15,16,17]

Methods

Results

Conclusion