01 November 2022

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Dental restorative materials with sustained antibacterial action

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In a review published Oct. 20 in the Journal of the American Dental Association, UC San Francisco Professor Emeritus John Featherstone wrote that dental restorative materials with antibacterial properties can potentially solve secondary caries that occur around restorations.

One antibacterial agent, quaternary ammonium coupled with inorganic silica into minute particles, has been studied in the laboratory and in humans, said Featherstone. QASi particles incorporated into dental materials retain their antibacterial action over time without leaching or loss of activity. A clinical in situ study in humans using dental composite containing QASi resulted in highly significantly less demineralization in the adjacent enamel than the control composite material.

Conclusions, Practical Implications

Dental restorative materials that contain QASi have sustained antibacterial properties comparable to those of presently marketed materials and have been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Clinical studies have shown that composites incorporating QASi have the potential to markedly reduce the occurrence of caries around restorations. Because caries around restorations is a major problem, restorative materials with sustained antibacterial properties will have an important effect in reducing secondary caries around restorations.

John D.B. Featherstone, MSc, PhD. "Dental restorative materials containing quaternary ammonium compounds have sustained antibacterial action." October 20, 2022. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2022.09.006