EFFICACY OF DENTURE CLEANSERS ON CANDIDA SPP. BIOFILM FORMED ON POLYAMIDE AND POLYMETHYL METHACRYLATE RESINS

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Statement of problem. Although new materials have emerged as options to fabricate removable dental prostheses, the development of Candida biofilms on these materials and the effectiveness of methods to control these pathogenic biofilms are poorly understood. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of denture cleansers on Candida single- and dual-species biofilms formed on polyamide resin. Material and methods. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin (Acron MC) and polyamide resin (Flexite M.P.) specimens (n=116) were prepared, and their surface roughness was standardized (0.34 +/- 0.02 mu m). Surface free energy (SFE) was measured for some specimens (n=20 per resin), while the remainder were randomly divided by lottery into 24 groups (n=8) for biofilm assay. C. albicans and/or C. glabrata biofilm was formed for 72 hours, and then specimens were treated with an enzymatic cleanser solution (Polident 3 Minutes), a cleanser solution (Corega Tabs), or 0.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution. Water served as the negative control. Remaining adherent microorganisms were removed from the treated specimens by ultrasonic waves, and colony-forming units (CFU) of each microorganism were calculated. SEE data were analyzed by 1-way ANOVA, and Candida species data were analyzed by 3-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey-Kramer test (P=.05). Results. All tested biofilms displayed significantly higher growth on polyamide resin (P<.001), which presented the lowest SEE. Denture cleansers significantly decreased Candida levels; however, the 0.5% NaOCl solution was the only effective cleanser. C. glabrata revealed significantly higher CFU counts under all experimental conditions (P<.001). Conclusions. The highest Candida spp. biofilm growth was shown to occur on polyamide resin when compared with PMMA. Denture cleansers were able to remove Candida spp. biofilm formed on both denture base resins. (J Prosthet Dent 2010;105: 51-58)10515158Maranhao Research Foundation [FAPEMA-BM00042/08]Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Maranhao Research Foundation [FAPEMA-BM00042/08