Evaluation of the cell viability and antimicrobial effects of orthodontic bands coated with silver or zinc oxide nanoparticles: An study.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to evaluate the cell viability and antimicrobial effects of orthodontic bands coated with silver or zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-Ag and nano-ZnO, respectively).

METHODS

In this experimental study, 30 orthodontic bands were divided into three groups (n = 10 each): control (uncoated band), Ag (silver-coated band), and ZnO (zinc oxide-coated band). The electrostatic spray-assisted vapor deposition method was used to coat orthodontic bands with nano-Ag or nano-ZnO. The biofilm inhibition test was used to assess the antimicrobial effectiveness of nano-Ag and nano-ZnO against , , and . Biocompatibility tests were conducted using the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The groups were compared using oneway analysis of variance with a post-hoc test.

RESULTS

The Ag group showed a significantly higher reduction in the number of , , and colonies than the ZnO group ( = 0.015, 0.003, and 0.005, respectively). Compared with the control group, the Ag group showed a 2-log reduction in all the microorganisms' replication ability, but only showed a 2-log reduction in replication ability in the ZnO group. The lowest mean cell viability was observed in the Ag group, but the difference between the groups was insignificant ( > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Coating orthodontic bands with nano-ZnO or nano-Ag induced antimicrobial effects against oral pathogens. Among the nanoparticles, nano-Ag showed the best antimicrobial activity and nano-ZnO showed the highest biocompatibility.