Enhanced antibacterial properties and promoted cell proliferation in glass ionomer cement by modified with...

In this study, we aimed to improve the properties of conventional glass ionomer cement (GIC), including mechanical properties, wear resistance, antibacterial properties and biological activity, by adding fluorinated graphene (FG). Composites of synthesised FG and GIC were examined after being combined at different mass proportions (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 wt%). The microstructure and morphology of FG prepared via the hydrothermal method was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The FG/GIC composite was obtained through the blending method and characterised using SEM. Then, the Vickers microhardness and the wear property of the FG/GIC composite-imitated brushing was measured. The plate count and dilution methods (10-fold) were adopted to investigate the antibacterial properties of FG/GIC by incubating Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The biocompatibility of FG/GIC containing the adhesion and cytotoxicity of mouse fibroblast cells (L929) was estimated by the MTT and acridine orange (AO) fluorescent staining. Our results demonstrated that the hardness and abrasive wear resistance of the composites increased, and the microhardness parameter changes exhibited a gradual increase as the concentration continued to increase. A 2.0 wt% FG concentration could effectively improve the bacterial inhibition performance of GIC and was directly proportional to the concentration of FG. The composite materials showed no apparent cytotoxicity on normal L929 cells compared to the control group, and the materials exhibited no cytotoxic effect compared to traditional GIC. Thus, FG/GIC has potential therapeutic value in the field of dental treatment.