Antibacterial activity of resin composites with silver-containing materials

Resin composites with antibacterial activity may be useful to decrease the frequency of secondary caries around restorations. The purposes of this study were to investigate the antibacterial activity of light-activated resin composites incorporating one of three silver-containing materials and to evaluate their long-term inhibitory effect against Streptococcus mutans The three types of silver-containing materials, Novaron (N), Amenitop (AM), and AIS, were incorporated into TEGDMA-UDMA-based light-activated resin composites, and the antibacterial activities, mechanical properties and release of silver ions were examined. Minimum inhibitory concentrations in suspensions of N, AM, and AIS against S. mutans were 1.1, 1.2, and 23.0 mg/ml, respectively. Resin composites incorporating 5 wt% of Novaron (N-5) and 7 wt% of Amenitop (AM-7) inhibited the growth of S. mutans after immersion in water for 3 months, whereas the resin composite incorporating 10 wt% of AIS did not. No significant difference in either compressive or flexural strength was observed between the control and N-5 composites after 1 d and 3 months storage in water. However, for AM-5 composite, there was a significant difference in both strength parameters between the two immersion periods. There was no or extremely little release of silver ions from the N-5 and AM-5 composites after 1 d or 3 months immersion in water. These results indicated that a light-activated resin composite incorporating silver-containing materials such as Novaron may be clinically useful due to its long-term inhibitory effect against S. mutans and favorable mechanical properties.