A
BSTRACT
Objectives:
The aim of this article is to review the factors that attract
Candida albicans
to denture base resin (DBR) and to verify the influence of different surface treatments, chemical modification, or structural reinforcements on the properties of DBR.
Materials and Methods:
Searches were carried out in PubMed, Scopus, WOS, Google Scholar, EMBASE, and J-stage databases. The search included articles between 1999 and 2020. This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. The keywords used during the search were “
Candida albicans
,” “Denture base,” “PMMA,” “Acrylic resin,” “Surface properties,” “hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity,” “contact angle,” and “surface free energy.” English full-text articles involving
in-vitro
studies with different acrylic resin modifications were included, whereas abstracts, dissertations, reviews, and articles in languages other than English were excluded. A meta-analysis was performed where appropriate.
Results:
Out of the 287 articles, 21 articles conformed to inclusion criteria. Sixteen articles were subjected to meta-analysis using random-effects model at 95% confidence interval. Results showed that DBR coatings/plasma coatings were effective methods to modify surface properties with estimated contact angle (CA) of 59.37° [95% confidence interval (CI): 53.69, 65.04]/55.87° (95% CI: 50.68, 61.06) and surface roughness (
R
a
) of 0.55 µm (95% CI: 0.52, 0.58)/0.549 µm (95% CI: 0.5, 0.59), respectively. Antifungal particle incorporation into poly(methylmethacrylate) DBR also produced similar effects with an estimated
R
a
of 0.16 µm (95% CI: 0.134, 0.187).
Conclusion:
The three properties responsible for
C. albicans
adhesion to DBR were
R
a
, CA, and surface free energy in terms of hydrophobicity. Therefore, the correlations between the hydrophobicity of DBR and
C. albicans
adhesion should be considered during future investigations for
Candida
-related denture stomatitis.