Abstract
The oral environment affects not only oral health, but also general health, and the importance of oral self-care has recently been recognised. Although toothbrushes are the most important self-care product, there are few toothbrushes that have an inhibitory effect on oral bacteria. In the present study, monofilaments used for toothbrushes containing surface pre-reacted glass-ionomer (S-PRG) filler (a component recently applied to various dental materials) were developed. Among nylon and polyester monofilaments commonly used for toothbrushes, nylon monofilaments can accommodate more S-PRG filler than polyester monofilaments, resulting in greater release of ions from the S-PRG filler. These monofilaments containing S-PRG filler formed less biofilm containing Streptococcus mutans, a major pathogen of dental caries, than monofilaments without S-PRG filler. Moreover, S. mutans adhering to monofilaments containing S-PRG filler were more easily exfoliated and eliminated than those adhering to monofilaments without S-PRG filler. Such inhibitory effects on S. mutans were more marked in nylon monofilaments than in polyester monofilaments. These findings that monofilaments containing S-PRG filler can release ions and have an inhibitory effect on S. mutans suggest that they may be an effective material for toothbrushes.
Highlights
Oral health has recently been recognised as being closely associated with general health and quality of life[1]
The clear nylon monofilaments changed to a white colour with the addition of surface pre-reacted glass-ionomer (S-PRG) filler, while no colour change was observed in the white polyester monofilaments with or without S-PRG filler
The particles included some elements corresponding to ions released from the S-PRG filler; this was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis (Supplementary Tables 1, 2)
Summary
Oral health has recently been recognised as being closely associated with general health and quality of life[1]. Most oral self-care products such as toothpastes and mouthwashes contain various components with an inhibitory effect on oral bacteria[4,5]. Self-care using a toothbrush is one of the most important methods of reducing oral bacterial colonisation[6,7]. S-PRG filler has been added to some dental materials, such as tooth surface coating materials and resin sealants, for caries p revention[18,20]. S-PRG filler has been added to various professional care dental materials, it has not yet been added to self-care products. We developed a toothbrush monofilament containing S-PRG filler as a novel self-care product with anti-cariogenic properties. The inhibitory effect of monofilaments containing S-PRG filler on S. mutans was analysed
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