Researchers from the Department of Chemistry Tin Klačić and Davor Kovačević have published, in collaboration with researchers from Slovenia (Anže Abram from Jožef Stefan Institute and Lana Staver, Franc Rojko, Roman Štukelj, Anamarija Zore and Klemen Bohinc from the University of Ljubljana), the scientific publication Adhesion of Streptococcus mutans on highly translucent zirconia: influence of surface properties and polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings in the prestigious journal The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry (IF 4.3).
In the published paper, the effect of biocompatible polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings built-up at the surface of zirconia-based dental materials on bacterial adhesion was studied with the aim of lowering the bacterial adhesion and, with that, improving the longevity of the implants. As dental material, zirconia stabilised with yttria (with yttria amount up to 5.2 mol%) was used. The surfaces were characterised by measuring the roughness, hydrophobicity, and surface charge using profilometry, atomic force microscopy, tensiometry, and electrokinetic analyser, respectively. The extent of Streptococcus mutans adhesion was determined using spectrophotometry and scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings made of chitosan and poly(acrylic acid) can reduce bacterial adhesion. The effect of polyelectrolyte multilayer coating was the highest in the case of poly(acrylic acid)-terminating multilayers with 50% less adhered bacteria than in the case of the uncoated surface.
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