Non-Thermal O2 Plasma Efficacy on C. albicans and Its Effect on Denture Base Resin Color

Christina Maillet,Serge Odof,Mikaël Meuret,Frédéric Velard,Florian Le Bras,Marie-Paule Gelle

doi:10.3390/app112110367

Christina Maillet, Serge Odof + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app112110367

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Abstract

Denture stomatitis is a disease involving C. albicans, which can affect elderly and immuno-compromised people. To avoid any recurrence of this pathology, it is necessary to treat patients regularly and disinfect dentures. However, the denture cleansers’ efficacy is not optimal and often leads to adverse color effects on the denture base resins. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a low-pressure non-thermal O2 plasma (NTP) treatment on C. albicans seeded on ProBase®Hot resin (Ivoclar Vivadent). The viability reduction of C. albicans was assessed by colony forming units (CFU) analysis and by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effect of repeated treatments on the resin color was evaluated by spectrophotometry. The resin samples were placed in a sealed bag in which O2 plasma was generated in low-pressure conditions. The results showed that a 120-min O2 NTP treatment led to a 6-log reduction of C. albicans viability (p < 0.05) and to yeasts’ major alterations observed by SEM. Furthermore, significant slight color changes of the resin (∆E00 = 1.33) were noted only after six plasma treatments (p < 0.05). However, the denture aesthetic was preserved, as the color changes were not perceptible and remained below the acceptability threshold (∆E00 < 4).

Highlights

The aim of this study was to assess whether a non-thermal O2 plasma process could inactivate a C. albicans strain on a heat-cured polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin for denture base without significantly modifying its color
We demonstrated that low pressure without plasma generated only a small decrease of C. albicans viability
We evaluated a low-pressure O2 non-thermal O2 plasma (NTP) as a method to clean a denture-base resin contaminated with C. albicans

Summary

Introduction

Candida albicans figures among the most common yeasts identified in approximately 50% of healthy adults [2] This microorganism is an opportunistic pathogen that can lead to different forms of oral fungal infections especially denture stomatitis (DS) [3,4]. DS is a common disorder that can affect a variable number of denture wearers, ranging from 11% up to 75% of them [5,6] The characteristics of this disease are essentially an inflammatory process and erythema of the palatal oral mucosa associated with Candida species, especially C. albicans, which adhere and form biofilms on the oral mucosa and denture surfaces [7,8]. Its common symptoms are “bleeding, swelling, burning or other painful sensations, halitosis, unpleasant taste and dryness in the mouth” [9] This disorder could potentially enhance the risk of systemic infections, in elderly subjects [10,11].

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