Evaluation of Antimicrobial Properties of Glass Ionomer, Zinc Phosphate and Polycarboxylate Cements

Due to the increased demineralization risk of enamel adjacent to fixed orthodontic attachments by cariogenic bacterias (e.g. Streptpcoccus mutans, Streptpcoccus sobrinus) and lack of adequate data about commonly used orthodontic cements, we decided to evaluation the antibacterial effects of three common domestic and foreign orthodontic cements (Glass ionomer, Zinc phosphate, and polycarboxylate) on two cariogenic pathogens (S.mutans and S.sobrinus).

In this in vitro study, direct contact test was utilized for evaluating cementschr('39') antibacterial effect after biphasic culturing and concentration adjustment of S.mutans and S.sobrinus. Groups (n = 5) included: three types of glass ionomer resilience cements, Hoffman’s zinc phosphate and Hoffman’s polycarboxylate and three glass ionomer cements, zinc phosphate and carboxylate from Aria Dent factory in Iran. Acquired data were analyzed using SPSS 20.

Ethical Considerations:

 MUBABOL.REC.1391.7.

Regarding to zone of inhibition, there was statistically significant difference between three tested cements in both S.mutans and S.sobrinus culturing media (p<0.001). The mean diameter of inhibition zone was greater for Iranian polycarboxylate compared to its foreign counterpart (p<0.001).

Glass ionomer cement demonstrated better antibacterial effect compared to zinc phosphate and polycarboxylate cements. There was also greater antibacterial effect of three tested cements on S.sobrinus than S.mutans. Iranian polycarboxylate showed stronger inhibition on both mentioned bacterias compared to the foreign one.