Preparation and evaluation of a novel antibacterial glass-ionomer cement

A novel antibacterial glass-ionomer cement has been developed. Compressive strength (CS) and S. mutans viability were used to evaluate the mechanical strength and antibacterial activity of the formed cement. Compressive yield strength (YS), modulus (M), diametral tensile strength (DTS) and flexural strength (FS) were also determined. All the formulated antibacterial cements showed a significant antibacterial activity, accompanying with an initial CS reduction. The effect of the synthesized antibacterial polymer loading was significant. Increasing loading from 1% to 20% significantly decreased the S. mutans viability from 3% to 50% and also reduced the initial CS (325 MPa) of the formed cements from 19% to 75%. The cement with 5% antibacterial polymer loading showed 142 MPa, 6.9 GPa, 224 MPa, 52 MPa, and 62 MPa in YS, M, CS, DTS and FS, respectively, as compared to 170, 7.1, 325, 60 and 87 for the experimental cement without antibacterial polymer addition and 141, 6.9, 236, 42 and 53 for Fuji II LC. It was also found that the chlorine-containing antibacterial cement showed better CS values than the bromine-containing cement, with no significant difference in antibacterial activity. The antibacterial cement also showed a similar antibacterial activity to Streptococcus mutans, lactobacillus, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The human saliva did not affect the antibacterial activity of the cement. The thirty-day aging study indicates that the cements may have a longlasting antibacterial function.