In the present study, a bioactive PMMA resin containing DMAHDM and MPC was successfully fabricated, which demonstrated excellent mechanical strength and durability, and maintained a potent anti-biofilm activity for 180 days of water-ageing. Our results proved the hypothesis that the PMMA–MPC–DMAHDM-containing resin imparted a strong antibacterial effect by greatly reducing biofilm viability and metabolic activity. The PMMA–MPC–DMAHDM-containing resin exhibited longterm antibacterial performance, with no significant difference between 1 d, 3 months, and 6 months. The mechanism of the antibacterial effect of QAMs is thought to be contact killing [20]. QAMs contain four organic groups linked to nitrogen, which are positively charged and can attract the negatively charged bacterial cell membrane. The electric balance of the cell membrane could then be disrupted, resulting in cytoplasmic leakage. Alternatively, QAMs with long lipophilic alkyl chains could bind to the cell wall components, resulting in the physical disruption of the membrane and bacterial cell death. Notably, the length of the hydrophobic chains can affect the antibacterial activity of QAMs. In theory, increasing the alkyl chain length would strengthen the bacteria-eradicating ability because of the stronger penetration property and better exposure of the quaternary ammonium sites. However, the chain length has a threshold value, beyond which the antimicrobial activity declines [37]. The optimal chain length is 16, which is long enough to penetrate the bacterial membrane without bending or curling. Thus, DMAHDM has the strongest antibacterial activity among the QAMs tested [37]. In the present study, the acrylic resin containing DMAHDM exhibited an excellent antibacterial performance by substantially reducing biofilm viability and the CFU count. The incorporation of DMAHDM reduced the biofilm activity of the commercial control by about 70% and decreased the biofilm CFU by about one order of magnitude (p < 0.05), both before and after water-aging for 180 days. The results suggested that DMAHDM could exhibit long-lasting bactericidal effects. The reason for adding DMAHDM to the resin to yield a long-term antibacterial property is that the antibacterial component in the polymer network is immobilized by polymerization of DMAHDM and does not leach out from cured acrylic resins [21, 38].
In addition to killing bacteria directly, reducing the formation of dental plaque is also an effective way to reduce the occurrence of caries. Protein adsorption to the pellicle is a prerequisite for the formation of plaque [39]. If the PMMA resin itself has protein repellent property, it could effectively reduce surface protein adhesion and bacterial accumulation, thereby inhibiting the formation of plaque at source and reducing the incidence of oral diseases. MPC, with a phospholipid polar group in the side chain, is established as a polymer with excellent biocompatibility and hydrophilic properties [40–43]. Most proteins prefer to bind to hydrophobic surfaces; therefore, the PMMA resin with hydrophilic MPC could reduce protein adhesion and bacterial attachment. In the present study, the amount of protein absorbed by the 3% MPC group was decreased by approximately 80% compared with that of the control, suggesting the excellent protein-repellent capability of the MPC-containing specimens. In addition, there was no significant difference between this effect on day 1 and day 180. MPC could copolymerize with the acrylic resin and become immobilized; therefore, it was present even after brushing and wear to continue detaching proteins.
Studies reported a synergistic effect of MPC and QAMs on antibiofilm properties [21, 40]. Thongthai et al. developed a novel surface coating composed of MDPB/MPC/BMA on PMMA resin, which exhibited both protein-repellent ability and bactericidal effects against S. mutans and effectively inhibited the formation of S. mutans biofilms [40]. The authors found that the number of viable S. mutans cells after incubation for 24 h in the MDPB/MPC/BMA group was lower than that in the MDPB/ BMA group, suggesting that the antibacterial efficacy was enhanced when both agents (protein-repellant MPC + antibacterial DMAHDM) were used in the same PMMA resin [40]. The results were similar to those of the present study. The biofilm CFU counts of the PMMA resin containing a single agent (3% MPC) decreased by about 50% compared with the control, and incorporating 1.5% DMAHDM alone in the resin reduced the biofilm CFU count of the commercial control by about one order of magnitude. However, when MPC and DMAHDM were both added into the PMMA resin, the biofilm CFU was reduced by about two orders of magnitude compared with that of control group. These results showed that the antibiofilm effect of DMAHDM was strengthened when combined with the protein-repellent MPC. The antibacterial effect of DMAHDM depends on direct contact with the biofilm; therefore, the contactkilling efficacy could be attenuated by salivary proteins attached on its surface. MPC can effectively resist protein adsorption on the acrylic resins; therefore, more direct resin-bacteria contact could occur, thus facilitating and enhancing the antibiofilm effect [21, 24, 40].
In the oral cavity, acrylic-based resins are exposed to a complex environment, which will result in deterioration of the material [44, 45]. Water is one of the main factors causing biodegradation. Water molecules can penetrate into the polymer network, occupy the spaces between the polymer chains, and break the adjacent chains, leading to a reduction in surface hardness and wear resistance [44, 46]. Moreover, the PMMA resin will expand after absorbing water, and thereby tiny cracks will occur inside the resin. When subjected to greater chewing pressure or external force, the resin will break from the site of these microcracks [46]. The deterioration of acrylic-based materials is not only related to physiochemical factors, such as water, temperature, and load, but also to biological factors, such as salivary proteins and bacterial metabolic activities. Bacteria can invade the acrylic resins through micropores, reducing the mechanical properties of the resins through enzyme activity or the production of volatile metabolites [45]. In this study, a three-point flexure test was used to determine the flexural strength and elastic modulus of the specimens with or without DMAHDM and/or MPC. Strength loss for the antibacterial acrylic resins incorporating DMAHDM, MPC, and DMAHDM-MPC was not statistically significant, both before and after water-aging for 180 days. However, the strength of control group after 180 d of water immersion was significantly lower than that of the other groups. These results suggested that the wear of the PMMA resin was significantly reduced by the use of DMAHDM and/or MPC. It is reported that MPC can lubricate the surface of an acrylic resin base, thereby leading to the resistance to mechanical stress [21, 47]. Furthermore, the reduced protein adhesion and bacterial attachment could enhance mechanical resistance to a certain extent [21]. The appliance with antibacterial and anti-protein repellent effect can significantly reduce the formation of dental plaque, thereby reducing the occurrence of oral diseases such as caries.
The present study focused on the effects of the 180 days of water-ageing treatment on the strength and antibacterial properties of PMMA resin in vitro, without considering the effect of toothbrushing on the biofilm. Further study is needed to investigate the durability of the MPC-DMAHDM composite in reducing biofilm growth and protein adsorption under repeated biofilm challenges.