Comparative evaluation of the antibacterial efficacy of a bioactive material enhanced by phytosynthesized nanoparticles: An in vitro study

ABSTRACT Aim: To evaluate and compare the antibacterial efficacy of ACTIVA Bioactive base/liner (ABBL) enhanced with phytosynthesized titanium dioxide nano-particles (nTiO2) and nano-curcumin (nCur). Methods: nTiO2 (3%) was phytosynthesized from moringa leaves extract and characterized. nCur (7%) was synthesized from Curcumin taken in dichloromethane and sprayed into boiling water. Metal molds with a diameter of 5 mm were placed on a glass slab and filled with ABBL (Group 1) and cured. For Group 2 (ABBL + nTiO2), 3% phytosynthesized titanium dioxide (TiO2) was added to ABBL and cured. For Group 3 (ABBL + nCur), ABBL discs were fabricated and 7% nCur was surface-coated on these discs and cured. Seven samples for each group with a total sample size of 42 specimens were assessed for anti-biofilm efficacy against Streptococcus mutans at the end of 1 day and 7 days and expressed in colony forming units. Intergroup and intragroup comparison of colony counts was assessed using the one-way analysis of variance and paired t-test, respectively. Level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Intergroup comparison on day 1 and 7 showed significant difference (P = 0.016/P = 0.002) amongst the test groups, where Groups 3 and 1 showed maximum increase in bacterial colonies, respectively, and Group 2 showed minimum. On intragroup comparison, all groups showed an increase in mean colony counts from day 1 to 7, with significant difference only in Group 1 (P = 0.004). Conclusion: ABBL + 3% TiO2 showed superior results. The antibacterial activity of ABBL decreased with time whereas, ABBL + 7% nCur showed sustained release during the tested time.