Addition of silver nanoparticles reduces the wettability of methacrylate and silorane-based composites

Incorporation of silver nanoparticles into composite resins is recommended for their reported antibacterial properties, but this incorporation can affect the wettability of such materials. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of nano-silver addition to silorane-based and methacrylate-based composites on their contact angle. Nano-silver particles were added to Z250 (methacrylate-based) and P90 (silorane-based) composites at 0.5% and 1% by weight. The control group had no additions. SEM-EDX analysis was performed to confirm the homogeneity of the nano-silver distribution. Seventy-two composite discs were prepared and standardized to the identical surface roughness values, and then distributed randomly into 6 groups containing 12 samples each (N = 12). Two random samples from each group were observed by atomic force microscopy. Distilled water contact angle measurements were performed for the wettability measurement. Two-way ANOVA, followed by the Tukey-HSD test, with a significance level of 5%, were used for data analysis. It was observed that wettability was significantly different between the composites (p = 0.0001), and that the addition of nano-silver caused a significant reduction in the contact angle (p = 0.0001). Wettability varied depending on the concentration of the nano silver (p = 0.008). Silorane-based composites have a higher contact angle than methacrylate-based composites. Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded that the addition of 0.5% nano-silver particles to the composites caused a decrease in the contact angle of water.