Paper: Antifungal Activity of Dental Materials at One Year (IADR/AADR/CADR 87th General Session and Exhibition (April 1-4, 2009))

Objective: To determine the antifungal activity of a dental adhesive and a resin ionomer compared to white copper cement over time.

Methods: 6x3 mm disc specimens of resin ionomer (RelyX/3M ESPE), white copper cement (Doc's Best/Cooley & Cooley) and composite resin coated with an dental adhesive (Clearfil Protect Bond/ Kuraray) were fabricated, and cured,.  The specimens were rinsed with sterile water, stored in tubes of sterile medium at 35°C for a period of day 0, one month, and one year.  At each time period, three tubes from each set was removed and the specimens for each material were transferred to test tubes containing 10 ml of Emmon's modification of Sabouraud's (DOFCO) or YM medium (DIFCO). These were inoculated each with 0.1 ml 18-14 hr cultures of Candida albicans.  The inoculated tubes were then incubated anaerobically at 35°C for 48hours.  The tubes were sonicated, vortexed and suitably diluted and plated in duplicate on yeast plates.  Plates were incubated aerobically at 25°C.  Matching controls were run in tubes of media without the discs and treated similarly.  Fungal growth rate was determined and percent kill rate was calculated as compared to controlsResults: Percent of Candida albicans kill rate of dental materials.

Materials	Day 0	One Month	One Year
Clearfil PB	2.5	0.1	2.4
Rely X	4.2	1.1	5.7
Doc's	2.9	0.3	9.7

Conclusions:  The percent kill rate of Candida albicans ranged from 2.4 to 9.7% for materials tested at one-year. While the kill rate decreased after one month, it returned to, or exceeded baseline levels at one-year with Doc's cement showing the greatest kill rate.

Supported by Cooley & Cooley