Novel Antibacterial Resin Coating for Dental Provisional Crowns to Suppress Biofilms and Inhibit Secondary Caries

Abstract

Provisional crowns are often used in dentistry for prolonged periods, but bacterial attachment and dental plaque often lead to gingival inflammation and secondary caries. The aims of this research were to develop a novel resin-based antibacterial provisional crown coating to prevent secondary caries and investigate the physical properties and antibacterial efficacy. The resin-based coating was prepared by addition of triethylene glycoldivinylbenzyl ether and urethane dimethacrylate, with the antibacterial monomer dimethylaminododecyl methacrylate (DMADDM) incorporated at different mass fractions. Surface characteristics including surface roughness and contact angle were assessed. The antibacterial effects were evaluated by 48 h biofilms of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) on provisional crowns coated with the resin-based coating. No statistically significant difference was observed in surface roughness across all groups (p > 0.05), showing that adding DMADDM did not have a negative impact on surface roughness. The contact angle results revealed a significant difference in hydrophilicity between different concentrations of DMADDM (p < 0.01), but overall hydrophilicity did not negatively affect the performance of the coating. The incorporation of 5% DMADDM demonstrated a significant antibiofilm effect on S. mutans biofilm CFU with a 4-log reduction compared to controls (p < 0.01). Significant reductions of 4–5 folds were observed in biofilm metabolic activity and lactic acid production (p < 0.01). The findings suggest that the novel coating material could enhance the long-term performance and clinical outcomes of provisional crowns, contributing to better patient oral health.