Effect of Oral Biofilms on Dental Materials: Biocorrosion and Biodeterioration

By restoring decayed, traumatized, or missing tooth tissues, dentists introduce a new substrate into the oral cavity, to which dental biofilm (plaque) can adhere and accumulate. Even though microbial adhesion and biofilm development and maturation on a dental material surface follow some general patterns, these processes also depend on the properties of the material itself. There are specific interactions between dental materials and the overlying biofilms. On the one hand, materials can directly affect biofilms by releasing bioactive compounds, which gives an opportunity for the biofilm control and the prevention of secondary caries and other oral infectious diseases. On the other hand, dental plaque has a potential to modify the restorative material’s surface properties, such as surface roughness and topography, which might boost bacterial accumulation and eventually compromise restoration’s longevity. Resin-based composites, which are the most commonly used restorative materials nowadays, seem to be particularly prone to biofilm-induced degradation, since a well-known cariogenic species, Streptococcus mutans, can produce enzymes with esterase activity, capable of breaking down the polymer matrix of composites. However, the regulatory mechanisms behind the production and activity of such enzymes within a large community of different species in dental plaque remain obscure.