Contemporary dental adhesives show favorable immediate results in terms of bonding effectiveness. However, the durability of resin-dentin bonds is their major problem. Materials and Methods: Preparation of 3 chitosan-antioxidant hydrogels was achieved using modified hydrogel preparation method. Their effect on the bond strength to dentine both short term (after 24 hours) and long term (after 6 months) were evaluated using shear bond strength measurements using Instron Universal Testing Mascine). The SEM was used to study the surface of the hydrogels. The cell survival rate (cytotoxicity) of the antioxidants resveratrol, β-carotene and propolis towards Balb/c 3T3 mouse fibroblast cells was also assessed using the standard MTT assay. Results: It was found that chitosan-H treated dentine gives significantly (p < 0.05; Non-parametric ANOVA test) higher shear bond values than dentine treated or not treated with phosphoric acid. The anti-oxidants chitosan hydrogels improved the shear bond strength. Overall, there was a relapse in the shear bond strength after 6 months. The SEM study showed that the hydrogel formulations have a uniform distribution of drug content, homogenous texture and yellow color. The pH of the growth medium adjusted to relevant values had a highly significant influence (Tukey-Kramer Multiple-Comparison Test; p < 0.01) on the cell survival rate of Balb/c mouse 3T3 fibroblast cells and therefore most probably also to tooth pulp fibroblast cells. The lower the pH value the higher the negative influence. Furthermore, the sequence of survival rate was found to be: β-carotene (92%) > propolis (68%) > resveratrol (33%). Conclusion: the antioxidant-chitosan hydrogels significantly improved bonding to dentine with or without phosphoric acid treatment. The pH of the growth medium had a high influence on the cell survival rate of Balb/c mouse 3T3 fibroblast cells. The release of the antioxidant β-carotene would not have an influence on the pulp cells. These materials might address the current perspectives for improving bond durability.

Today it is generally accepted that most bonding agents are cytotoxic. In this study the relative cytotoxicity of seven recent dentine bonding agents on mouse 3T3 fibroblast cells were investigated. Materials and Methods. Near-confluent mouse 3T3 fibroblast cells were exposed to Dulbecco Modified Eagle’s Medium containing extractions from the seven different bonding agents. The cell survival rate was then determined using the standard MTT assay. Results. The cell survival rate ranking is: iBond (94%) < Gbond (78%) < Xeno V (71%) < Adper Easy Bond (63%) < Xeno V+ (61%) < Adper Scotchbond SE (33%) < XP Bond (32%). Part A of Adper Scotchbond SE had a survival rate of 35% and part B 38%. These two parts did not differ significantly. Adper Scotchbond SE and XP Bond do not differ significantly. While Xeno V+, Xeno V and Adper Easy Bond do not differ. (p < 5%; Tukey-Kramer Multiple-Comparison Test). Conclusion. All of the tested adhesive bonding agents were cytotoxic with survival rate of 3T3 cells between 94% to 31%. Of the 7 bonding agents tested iBond was found to be only slightly toxic and by far the least toxic. The two bonding agents (XP Bond and Adper Scotchbond SE) containing UDMA plus TEGDMA plus HEMA plus camphorquinone were found to be the most toxic

Dental caries is considered one of the most prevalent oral diseases worldwide, with a high rate of morbidity among populations. It is a chronic infectious disease with a multifactorial etiology that leads to the destruction of the dental tissues. Due to their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and antioxidant properties; silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are incorporated in dental products to help prevent infectious oral diseases. In this study, the antimicrobial effects of AgNPs synthesized using Gum Arabic extracts (GAE) were examined. The GA-AgNPs were synthesized and characterized using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity of the GA-AgNPs was evaluated on Streptococcus sanguinis (S. sanguinis), Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Lactobacillus acidophilus (L. acidophilus), and Candida albicans (C. albicans) using agar disc diffusion and microdilution assays. The antibiofilm of GA-AgNPs was evaluated on the surface of human tooth enamel that had been exposed to S. mutans with and without the GA-AgNPs using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). GA-AgNPs were spherical in shape with a particle size distribution between 4 and 26 nm. The GA-AgNPs exhibited antimicrobial activity against all the tested oral microbes, with GA-AgNPs_0.4g having higher antimicrobial activity. The GA-AgNPs_0.4g inhibited S. mutans adhesion and biofilm formation on the surface of the tooth enamel. Therefore, this study supports the prospective implementation of the plant extract-mediated AgNPs in dental healthcare.

Chitosan [10] which is produced commercially by de-acetylation of chitin is a natural polysaccharide composed of randomly distributed β-1, 4-linked D-glucosamine and N-acetyl α-glucosamine.Chitosan is non-toxic, biocompatible, bio-degradable and has muco-adhesive properties and as a result became widely used in the pharmaceutical field as a carrier system for drugs, hormones, proteins, enzymes and genes [11][12][13][14]. Chitosan is positively charged in acid medium because the amino groups become protonated

The aims of this study were to synthesize highly positively charged chitosan nanoparticles (Ch-Np) using the electrospraying technique, and to test their antimicrobial activity against endodontic pathogens, and cytotoxicity against fibroblast cells. Ch-Np were synthesized from low molecular weight chitosan (LMW-Ch) using the electrospraying technique, and characterized. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated against Streptococcus mutans, Enterococcus faecalis, and Candida albicans in their planktonic state using a Time-Kill Test performed by using broth micro-dilution technique, and against biofilm biomass using a microtiter plate biofilm assay. The cytotoxicity was evaluated using Balb/c 3T3 fibroblast cells with the standard MTT assay. Electrospraying of LMW-Ch produced Ch-Np with an average size of 200 nm, and a surface charge of 51.7 mV. Ch-Np completely eradicated S. mutans and E. faecalis in the planktonic state and showed fungistatic activity against C. albicans. Furthermore, it significantly reduced the biofilm biomass for all the tested microbial species [S. mutans (p = 0.006), E. faecalis (p < 0.0001), and C. albicans (p = 0.004)]. When tested for cytotoxicity using 3T3 cells, Ch-Np showed no cytotoxicity. In conclusion, the highly positively charged, colloidal dispersion of Ch-Np are effective as a biocompatible endodontic antimicrobial agent.