Abstract
BackgroundRecently, non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma sources have been used for biomedical applications such as sterilization, cancer treatment, blood coagulation, and wound healing. Gold nanoparticles (gNPs) have unique optical properties and are useful for biomedical applications. Although low-temperature plasma has been shown to be effective in killing oral bacteria on agar plates, its bactericidal effect is negligible on the tooth surface. Therefore, we used 30-nm gNPs to enhance the killing effect of low-temperature plasma on human teeth.ResultsWe tested the sterilizing effect of low-temperature plasma on Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) strains. The survival rate was assessed by bacterial viability stains and colony-forming unit counts. Low-temperature plasma treatment alone was effective in killing S. mutans on slide glasses, as shown by the 5-log decrease in viability. However, plasma treatment of bacteria spotted onto tooth surface exhibited a 3-log reduction in viability. After gNPs were added to S. mutans, plasma treatment caused a 5-log reduction in viability, while gNPs alone did not show any bactericidal effect. The morphological changes in S. mutans caused by plasma treatment were examined by transmission electron microscopy, which showed that plasma treatment only perforated the cell walls, while the combination treatment with plasma and gold nanoparticles caused significant cell rupture, causing loss of intracellular components from many cells.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that low-temperature plasma treatment is effective in killing S. mutans and that its killing effect is further enhanced when used in combination with gNPs.
Highlights
Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma sources have been used for biomedical applications such as sterilization, cancer treatment, blood coagulation, and wound healing
Dental caries is a chronic infection of worldwide prevalence, and it represents oral health problems associated with oral bacteria [1]
Enhancement of the killing effect of plasma by using Gold nanoparticle (gNP) To investigate the killing effect of plasma, a cover glass was coated with 5 μL (~108 colony-forming units (CFUs)/mL) of a suspension of S. mutans
Summary
Non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma sources have been used for biomedical applications such as sterilization, cancer treatment, blood coagulation, and wound healing. Low-temperature plasma has been shown to be effective in killing oral bacteria on agar plates, its bactericidal effect is negligible on the tooth surface. We used 30-nm gNPs to enhance the killing effect of low-temperature plasma on human teeth. Dental caries commonly occur on the occlusal and proximal surfaces of the tooth, in its pits and fissures. These sites are structurally difficult to approach when treating a decayed tooth. Low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma has been used for biomedical applications such as sterilization, cancer treatment, blood coagulation, and wound healing [3]. Plasma treatment alone needs a relatively long time for killing S. mutans [9,10]
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