Influence of Surface Properties on Adhesion Forces and Attachment ofStreptococcus mutansto ZirconiaIn Vitro

Abstract

Zirconia is becoming a prevalent material in dentistry. However, any foreign bodies inserted may provide new niches for the bacteria in oral cavity. The object of this study was to explore the effect of surface properties including surface roughness and hydrophobicity on the adhesion and biofilm formation of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) to zirconia. Atomic force microscopy was employed to determine the zirconia surface morphology and the adhesion forces between the S. mutans and zirconia. The results showed that the surface roughness was nanoscale and significantly different among tested groups (P < 0.05): Coarse (23.94 ± 2.52 nm) > Medium (17.00 ± 3.81 nm) > Fine (11.89 ± 1.68 nm). The contact angles of the Coarse group were the highest, followed by the Medium and the Fine groups. Increasing the surface roughness and hydrophobicity resulted in an increase of adhesion forces and early attachment (2 h and 4 h) of S. mutans on the zirconia but no influence on the further development of biofilm (6 h~24 h). Our findings suggest that the surface roughness in nanoscale and hydrophobicity of zirconia had influence on the S. mutans initial adhesion force and early attachment instead of whole stages of biofilm formation.

Evaluation of oral microbial corrosion on the surface degradation of dental implant materials

“…In previous studies, increased hydrophilicity of titanium surfaces was shown to reduce attachment of bacterial species like S. mutans while not affecting others like S. sanguinis. 45,46 In contrast, surface wettability was not observed to significantly affect the amount of bacterial attachment after 30 days of immersion in the present study, but the increased surface hydrophilicity of Ti-modSLA implants may have influenced the developing biofilm structure and subsequent corrosion features. However, differences in surface morphology between Ti-SLA, Ti-modSLA, and TiZr-SLA implants could not be attributed to differences in growth conditions as the optical density (OD 600 ) and pH of the immersion media for all implants remained the same throughout testing (data not shown).…”

“…in online Journal ). In previous studies, increased hydrophilicity of titanium surfaces was shown to reduce attachment of bacterial species like S. mutans while not affecting others like S. sanguinis . In contrast, surface wettability was not observed to significantly affect the amount of bacterial attachment after 30 days of immersion in the present study, but the increased surface hydrophilicity of Ti‐modSLA implants may have influenced the developing biofilm structure and subsequent corrosion features.…”

Nanoscale adhesion forces of glucosyltransferase B and C genes regulated Streptococcal mutans probed by AFM

“…To detect the forces involved in microbial adhesion, a multifunctional technique of atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been introduced (Dufrene & Pelling, ; Zhang, Aslan, Besenbacher, & Dong, ). AFM studies have shown that roughened substrate surfaces show significant enhancement in bacterial adhesion (Mei, Busscher, van der Mei, & Ren, ; Wang et al, ; Yu et al, ). Enamel surfaces etched by phosphoric acid are vulnerable to cariogenic bacteria; this is associated with an enhanced contact area and irregular grooves on the surface created by the dissolution of phosphoric acid (Buonocore, ; Zhu, Tang, Matinlinna, & Hagg, ).…”

“…AFM studies have shown that roughened substrate surfaces show significant enhancement in bacterial adhesion (Mei, Busscher, van der Mei, & Ren, 2011;Wang et al, 2015;Yu et al, 2016). Enamel surfaces etched by phosphoric acid are vulnerable to cariogenic bacteria; this is associated with an enhanced contact area and irregular grooves on the surface created by the dissolution of phosphoric acid (Buonocore, 1955;Zhu, Tang, Matinlinna, & Hagg, 2014).…”

Current Insights into the Modulation of Oral Bacterial Degradation of Dental Polymeric Restorative Materials

“…It is through this protein layer that oral bacteria attach to the resin and to tooth surfaces [45]. The adherence of early colonizers, for example, S. mutans , to the salivary pellicle is an initial step in biofilm formation.…”