Cold Plasma Treatment for Candida Biofilm on Resin Base Dentures: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Candida biofilm on resin base dentures is a common problem among denture wearers, leading to denture stomatitis and associated complications. Cold plasma treatment has been proposed as a novel and promising approach to eradicate Candida biofilm. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of cold plasma treatment for Candida biofilm on resin base dentures. Methods: This systematic review study was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. The main objective was to investigate whether cold plasma treatment could reduce the number of Candida cells in dentures compared to other disinfection methods or controls. In September 2024, an electronic search was performed without any limitation on the publication start date in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Embase, and Scopus databases. English in vitro studies, focusing on acrylic denture bases using cold plasma treatment as the intervention, were included. The selected articles were assessed using the QUIN risk-of-bias tool for in vitro studies conducted in dentistry. Results: Initially, 259 papers were identified, and 164 remained after removing duplicates. Following the screening of titles and abstracts, 21 papers remained. Ten articles were not related to dentures, and 11 studies were included. All of these articles demonstrated a medium risk of bias and were case-control in vitro studies. The evidence currently available suggests that cold plasma exhibits antimicrobial efficacy against denture candidiasis; however, its application is not without limitations. Conclusion: Based on the findings of in vitro studies, cold plasma shows promise as an effective tool for disinfecting dentures. Notably, significant reductions in the Candida cell count can be achieved within a reasonable treatment duration, although the existing data present variable results.