Anti-biofilm Effects of Resin-Modified Glass-Ionomers Incorporated with Silver Nanoparticles and Sodium Fluoride

The glycocalyx or biofilm is essential for microbial survival. But dental biofilms cause cavities in teeth. The current study planned to incorporate silver nanoparticles and sodium fluoride in resin-modified glass-ionomer cement to test anti-biofilm efficacy. Silver nanoparticles (NAg) were chemically reduced by sodium borohydride. At 0.15% mass fraction, NAg was added in commercial resin-modified glass-ionomer cement (GC) and in this blend, 4 mass fractions (5%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) of NaF were mixed. The metabolic activity of biofilm, which shows the metabolic activity was decreased by NaF (P > .05). The biofilm CFU count shows the CFU counts of GC+NAg+20%NaF were decreased to 106 CFU/disk (P<.05). The cell viabilities of GC+NAg+20%NaF were 79.7%,75.6%,73% for days 1, 4, and 7 respectively, which were lower than GC control (P < .05) but higher than GC+NAg (P < .05). The use of NAg reduced cell viability at all three-time points (day 1, day 4, and day 7), which was partially reversed by the addition of NaF.