Electrochemical Disinfection of Experimentally Infected Teeth by Boron-Doped Diamond Electrode Treatment

Abstract

Disinfection and prevention of re-infection are the decisive treatment steps in endodontic therapy. In this study, boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes have been fabricated and used for disinfecting the root canals of extracted human teeth, which had been covered with bacterial biofilms formed by Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The growth of B. subtilis could be successfully impaired, achieving a complete disinfection after 8.5 min treatment time with the success of disinfection depending on the insertion depth of the electrode in the root canal. S. epidermidis could completely be removed after 3.5 min treatment time. A clinically applicable electrode array led to complete disinfection after treatment times of 10 min for S. epidermidis and 25 min for B. subtilis. BDD electrode application allowed for the improved disinfection of root canals and dentin tubules based on a continuous production of reactive oxygen species and their enhanced penetration of dentin tubules most likely due the formation of a continuous stream of small gas bubbles. The treatment times that are required here will be shortened in clinical application, as mechanical shaping of the canal system would precede the disinfection process.

Influence of In-Situ Electrochemical Oxidation on Implant Surface and Colonizing Microorganisms Evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscopy

“…Tungsten filaments (220 mm, Ø 100 µm) were fit into a filament mount and pre-heated for carburization (18 h, 65 A/mount) in order to reach stable conditions during the deposition process following the pre-heating process in a methane-hydrogen-trimethyl borate gas atmosphere. Two pieces of wire, as electrodes, were combined with electrical insulating media to form a probe-like instrument with clinically applicable dimensions [32]. This probe was connected to an external electric power supply allowing for adjusting voltage and treatment time.…”

“…Recently, BDD electrodes have been described as being suitable for large-scale electrochemical disinfection of microbially contaminated water [31] and we were already able to show that also root canals and implants can be disinfected with low electric current ranging from 2.5 to 9 V, which is considered as being harmless for the patient [32,33].…”

Pilot Study on the Use of a Laser-Structured Double Diamond Electrode (DDE) for Biofilm Removal from Dental Implant Surfaces

“…The diamond coating is performed by a standard hot filament CVD process [32][33][34][35]. Due to the addition of B(OCH 3 ) 3 gas during the coating process, the diamond layer becomes conductive (doping), while the substrate stays non-conductive.…”

“…A novel approach for disinfecting hardly accessible porous structures employs the use of boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes and has been derived from wastewater treatment [ 31 ]. Previous investigations using simplistic arrays of single electrodes have shown that electrochemical disinfection can effectively inactivate monospecies biofilm both during root canal treatment [ 32 ] and peri-implantitis treatment [ 33 ] without affecting surface characteristics, as may be the case with the use of curettes and airflow instruments [ 34 ]. Further developing this technology for clinical application, it was the goal of this study to fabricate and test a novel laser-structured, ceramic-based BDD electrode array for removing wild-type multispecies biofilm.…”

Electrochemical Disinfection of Dental Implants Experimentally Contaminated with Microorganisms as a Model for Periimplantitis

“…In this preliminary proof of principle study, we tested the application of boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes [45][46][47] for the electrochemical disinfection of dental implants colonized by biofilm-forming microorganisms. The working principle of these electrodes is based on the electrolytic dissociation of water, which theoretically produces hydrogen at the negative pole (cathode) and oxygen at the positive pole (anode).…”