Chlorhexidine-doped Thin Film On Titanium For Prevention Of Peri-implantitis

Objectives: A stable connection between titanium implant surface/abutments and peri-implant soft tissues is an important approach for the long-term success of dental implant treatment. Thus, such surfaces should minimize bacterial colonization while allowing good adhesion of oral tissues.
Methods: Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial and biocompatibility potentials of hexamethyldisiloxane films incorporated with and without (control) chlorhexidine (CHX) onto commercially pure titanium (cpTi) surfaces on co-cultures with periodontal ligament fibroblasts cells and Streptococcus sanguinis. These multifunctional chlorhexidine-doped thin films are designed to inhibit S. sanguinis bacterial biofilm formation and to allow periodontal ligament fibroblast cells to proliferate at the same time. In the co-culture assay, incubation of ligament fibroblast cells with S. sanguinis was used to assess confocal laser scanning microscopy (Live/Dead), metabolic activity, cytotoxicity test (LDH release), viability (WST assay), and UFC/mL at 1, 2, and 3 days.
Results: Treatments with hexamethyldisiloxane films incorporated with CHX did not affect the metabolic activity, cytotoxicity and viability of ligament fibroblast cells (p>0.05). These multifunctional chlorhexidine-doped thin films are able to significantly inhibit (p<0.05) S. sanguinis growth and to inhibit the bacterial biofilm formation without cytotoxic effects on human fibroblasts and allow an adequate colonization of ligament fibroblast cells on their surface.
Conclusions: These findings indicate promising applications of these multifunctional chlorhexidine-doped thin films to create multifunctional dental implant surfaces that inhibit bacterial growth and consequently reduce the possibility of infection without damaging peri-implant tissues, preventing of periodontal infection.