Photoactivating dental resin composites
have been the
most prevailing
material for repairing dental defects in various clinical scenarios
due to their multiple advantages. However, compared to other restorative
materials, the surface of resin-based composites is more susceptible
to plaque biofilm accumulation, which can lead to secondary caries
and restoration failure. This study introduced different weight fractions
(1, 2, 5, 10, and 15%) of magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgONPs) as
antibacterial fillers into dental resin composites. Multifarious properties
of the material were investigated, including antibacterial activity
against a human salivary plaque-derived biofilm, cytotoxicity on human
gingival fibroblasts, mechanical and physicochemical properties as
well as the performance when subjected to thermocycling aging treatment.
Results showed that the incorporation of MgONPs significantly improved
the composites’ anti-biofilm capability even at a low amount
of 2 wt % without compromising the mechanical, physicochemical, and
biocompatibility performances. The results of the thermocycling test
suggested certain of aging resistance. Moreover, a small amount of
MgONPs possibly made a difference in enhancing photoactivated polymerization
and increasing the curing depth of experimental resin composites.
Overall, this study highlights the potential of MgONPs as an effective
strategy for developing antibacterial resin composites, which may
help mitigating cariogenic biofilm-associated secondary caries.