A nanostructured anti-biofilm surface widens the efficacy against spindle-shaped and chain-forming rod-like bacteria.

Current control of pathogenic bacteria at all biomaterial interfaces is poorly attuned to a broad range of disease-causing pathogens. Leading antimicrobial surface functionalization strategies with antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), defensins, have not shown their promised efficacy. One of the main problems is the lack of stability and swift clearance from the surface. Surface nanotopography bearing sharp protrusions is a non-chemical solution that is intrinsically stable and long-lasting. Previously, the geometrically ordered arrays of nanotipped spines repelled or rapidly ruptured bacteria that come into contact. The killing properties so far work on cocci and rod-like bacteria, but there is no validation of the efficacy of protrusional surfaces on pathogenic bacteria with different sizes and morphologies, thus broadening the utility of such surfaces to cover increasingly more disease entities. Here, we report a synthetic analogue of nanotipped spines with a pyramidal shape that show great effectiveness on species of bacteria with strongly contrasting shapes and sizes. To highlight this phenomenon in the field of dental applications where selective bacterial control is vital to the clinical success of biomaterial functions, we modified the poly(methyl)-methacrylate (PMMA) texture and tested it against Streptococcus mutans, Enterococcus faecalis, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Fusobacterium nucleatum. These nanopyramids performed effectively at levels well above those of normal and roughened PMMA biomaterials for dentistry and a model material for general use in medicine and disease transmission in hospital environments.

Numerical fatigue analysis of premolars restored by CAD/CAM ceramic crowns.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the fatigue life of premolars restored with two dental ceramics, lithium disilicate (LD) and polymer infiltrated ceramic (PIC) using the numerical method and compare it with the published in vitro data. METHODS: A premolar restored with full-coverage crown was digitized. The volumetric shape of tooth tissues and crowns were created in Mimics®. They were transferred to IA-FEMesh for mesh generation and the model was analyzed with Abaqus. By combining the stress distribution results with fatigue stress-life (S-N) approach, the lifetime of restored premolars was predicted. RESULTS: The predicted lifetime was 1,231,318 cycles for LD with fatigue load of 1400N, while the one for PIC was 475,063 cycles with the load of 870N. The peak value of maximum principal stress occurred at the contact area (LD: 172MPa and PIC: 96MPa) and central fossa (LD: 100MPa and PIC: 64MPa) for both ceramics which were the most seen failure areas in the experiment. In the adhesive layer, the maximum shear stress was observed at the shoulder area (LD: 53.6MPa and PIC: 29MPa). SIGNIFICANCE: The fatigue life and failure modes of all-ceramic crown determined by the numerical method seem to correlate well with the previous experimental study.

A new concept and finite-element study on dental bond strength tests.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous bond strength tests have been performed on dental adhesion experiments. Yet, the validity of these bond strength tests is controversial due to the name (e.g., "shear" or "tensile") may not reflect to the true and complete stress situation, i.e., assumed uniform shear or uniaxial tensile conditions. Thus, the aim of this study was to simulate and compare the stress distribution of and between shear bond strength (SBS), tensile bond strength (TBS), mold-enclosed shear bond strength (ME-SBS) and de novo lever-induced mold-enclosed shear bond strength (LIME-SBS) tests. METHODS: 3-Dimensional finite element method (FEM) was used on the dental resin-bonded surfaces (i.e., titanium alloy, dentine and porcelain) interphased with adhesive layer (thickness 5µm) to simulate the mechanical tests. For ME-SBS, both polycarbonate and stainless steel molds were used. For LIME-SBS, stainless steel levers and molds with lengths of 3mm, 6mm, 12mm, 15mm and 18mm were used. The applied loads on these models were 50N, 100N and 200N. RESULTS: De novo LIME-SBS test was the most optimal configuration to evaluate "shear" bond strength of adhesive in regards to providing significantly high and uniform shear stress as well as eliminating tensile stress at the interface. The conventional SBS test created very high tensile stress at the load area, whereas the TBS created optimal tensile stress but shear stress indeed co-exist. The ME-SBS test could also eliminate some of the tensile stress. Similar stress distributions pattern appeared on the Ti-adhesive models, the dentine-adhesive models and porcelain-adhesive models. SIGNIFICANCE: None of the bond strength tests could give purely "shear" or "tensile" bond strength, but LIME-SBS seems to be the best model to evaluate the bond strength under true "shear" mode.