Antimicrobial and Substantivity Properties of Silver Nanoparticles against Oral Microbiomes Clinically Isolated from Young and Young-Adult Patients

Abstract

The dental plaque is an oral microbiome hardly associated to be the etiological agent of dental caries and periodontal disease which are still considered serious health public problems. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have demonstrated to have good antimicrobial properties affecting a wide variety of microorganisms, including oral bacteria; however, there is no scientific information that has evaluated the antimicrobial effect of AgNPs against clinical oral biofilms associated with dental caries and periodontal disease. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial and substantivity effects of AgNPs in oral biofilms isolated clinically from patients with dental caries and periodontal disease. Sixty-seven young and young-adult subjects with dental caries and periodontal disease were clinically sampled through the collection of subgingival dental plaque. The inhibitory effect of AgNPs was performed with standard microbiological assays by triplicate using two sizes of particle. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was used to identify the presence of specific bacterial species. All AgNPs showed an inhibitory effect for all oral biofilms for any age and, generally, any gender (p>0.05); however, the effectiveness of the antimicrobial and substantivity effects was related to particle size, time, and gender (p<0.05). The identified microorganisms were S. mutans, S. sobrinus, S. sanguinis, S. gordonii, S. oralis, P. gingivalis, T. forsythia, and P. intermedia. The AgNPs could be considered as a potential antimicrobial agent for the control and prevention of dental caries and periodontal disease.

Antifungal and Cytotoxic Evaluation of Photochemically Synthesized Heparin-Coated Gold and Silver Nanoparticles

“…It has been reported that heparin derived from certain fish exhibits antimicrobial activity against bacterial and yeast species at high concentrations [54], but the exact mechanism is not clear. Also, this is not in accordance with the results observed in this study, because even at high concentrations, heparin did not exhibit any antifungal effect.…”

Applications of Silver Nanoparticles in Dentistry: Advances and Technological Innovation

“…The antimicrobial efficacy of nanosilver is inversely proportional to the size of silver nanoparticles [ 15 ]. Silver nanoparticles with smaller diameter present better biofilm inhibition results than larger particles [ 31 ] and are effective against S. mutans [ 33 ] and Streptococcus orallis biofilms [ 88 ]. However, larger AgNPs were also demonstrated to have significant antimicrobial activities against a wide variety of dental plaque microorganisms, showing acceptable bacterial growth inhibition even at lower concentrations [ 31 ].…”

“…Silver nanoparticles with smaller diameter present better biofilm inhibition results than larger particles [ 31 ] and are effective against S. mutans [ 33 ] and Streptococcus orallis biofilms [ 88 ]. However, larger AgNPs were also demonstrated to have significant antimicrobial activities against a wide variety of dental plaque microorganisms, showing acceptable bacterial growth inhibition even at lower concentrations [ 31 ]. Biologically synthesized AgNP (using neem, onion, and tomato in the synthesis process) with sizes considered large (26.2 to 33.3 nm) showed antimicrobial activity against S. aureus , possibly due to the high concentration of flavonoids and terpenoids [ 75 ].…”

“…AgNPs were more effective than chlorhexidine against Enterococcus faecalis , Klebsiella pneumoniae , C. albicans [ 72 ], and S. mutans [ 15 ]. Other studies have reported that pure chlorhexidine has higher antimicrobial activity against E. faecalis and C. albicans [ 17 , 31 ], and a positive synergistic effect was present when AgNP was associated with chlorhexidine [ 72 ] biocomposites such as calcium glyceride phosphate [ 50 ] or antibiotics [ 76 ].…”

“…Incipient caries lesions, known as white spots, are the most common complications in patients using fixed orthodontic appliances, especially when there is poor oral hygiene [ 51 ]. Elastomeric modules, brackets, orthodontic wire, and titanium micro-implants were treated with AgNP with the objective of avoiding this condition [ 31 , 49 , 71 ].…”