Silver Nanoparticles Addition in Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Dental Matrix: Topographic and Antimycotic Studies

The widespread use of nanoparticles (NPs) in medical devices has opened a new scenario in the treatment and prevention of many diseases and infections owing to unique physico-chemical propertiesofNPs. Inthisway,silvernanoparticles(AgNPs)areknowntohaveastrongantimicrobial activity, even at low concentrations, due to their ability to selectively destroy cellular membranes. In particular, in the field of dental medicine, the use of AgNPs in different kinds of dental prosthesis matrixes could be a fundamental tool in immunodepressed patients that suffer of different oral infections. Candida albicans (C. albicans), an opportunistic pathogenic yeast with high colonization ability, is one of the causative agents of oral cavity infection. In our work, we added monodispersed citrate-cappingAgNPswithasizeof20nmattwoconcentrations(3wt%and3.5wt%)inpoly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), the common resin used to develop dental prostheses. After AgNPs characterization, we evaluated the topographical modification of PMMA and PMMA with the addition of AgNPs by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM), showing the reduction of surface roughness. The C. albicans colonization on PMMA surfaces was assessed by the Miles and Misra techniqueaswellasbyscanningelectronmicroscopy(SEM)at24hand48hwithencouragingresults on the reduction of yeast viability after AgNPs exposure.