Tricalcium silicate enhanced by silver nanoparticles-bacterial cellulose for dental restoration

Sustainable Ag hybrid bacterial cellulose nanofiber (Ag-BCN) was used as the fiber reinforcement material for tricalcium silicate (C₃S) to construct a functional dental restorative material with excellent mechanical performance and high antibacterial activity. The prepared C₃S/Ag-BCN material exhibits 44.5 % increase in fracture resistance and 38.4 % decrease in coefficient friction compared to the mechanical strength of pristine C₃S based material (fracture resistance: 72 N, coefficient friction: 0.73). Moreover, incorporating Ag-BCN into C₃S matrix provided outstanding antibacterial efficiency (>99.99 % against S. aureus and >99.99 % against E. coli). Animal model experiments confirm its excellent biocompatibility and capacity to reduce the infection. These results suggest that the C₃S/Ag-BCN material holds great promise for dental restoration applications.