The antimicrobial effect of the incorporation of inorganic substances into heat-cured denture base resins - a systematic review

Introduction: Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is the most widely used denture base material due to its favourable properties. Several studies have tested the incorporation of anti-infective agents into PMMA as a strategy to prevent biofilm growth on the denture surface. This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy of incorporating inorganic antimicrobial particles into denture base resins in preventing antimicrobial growth, thereby identifying the most effective agents for enhancing PMMA’s antimicrobial properties. Materials and methods: This systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines, and the research protocol was registered in PROSPERO. The search was performed by using Medical Subject Headings and free text combined with Boolean operators in PubMed/Medline^® and in Cochrane^® and a free text combination in Web of Science^® Core Collection. Data regarding the inorganic particles studied, their antimicrobial effect, and the type of samples produced were collected and analysed. Results: After screening, a total of fifteen studies were included in this review. Most samples were disk-shaped and of varying sizes, and the most tested microbial strain was Candida albicans. Silver was the most used antimicrobial particle, followed by gold, titanium, and copper. Conclusions: Overall, incorporating inorganic particles into PMMA has produced promising antimicrobial results, depending on the concentration. Due to the high heterogeneity observed in the samples, more studies are recommended, particularly clinical trials.