From Toothpaste to ″Implant-paste″: A New Product for Cleaning Dental Implants

Objectives: Oral biofilm can accumulate onto the surface of dental implants causing infection and compromising implant survival. Available prophylaxis and toothpastes present limited efficiency in cleaning implant surfaces because they were all originally designed for cleaning teeth not implants. In fact, they are made of organic thickeners and surfactants that could bind to titanium and alter its properties. Prophylaxis pastes completely inorganic in composition could be more effective in cleaning dental implants than organic–based toothpastes. We discovered a new class of inorganic colloidal suspensions with extreme thixotropic behaviour. They are biocompatible and have rheological properties suitable for prophylaxis paste thickening agents.
This study aimed at developing a prophylaxis paste optimized for cleaning dental implants while preserving their surface integrity ″the first implant-paste″.
Methods: The implant-paste was developed by combining an inorganic thickening agent made of a nanocrystalline colloidal suspension (Nanocrystalline Magnesium Phosphate) and polishing nanoparticles of hydrated silica. The implant-paste formulation was optimized to decontaminate titanium surfaces coated with oral biofilm and compared to a commercial toothpaste (Colgate; Colgate-Palmoliven, USA). Surface morphology, bacterial attachment and chemical properties of titanium surfaces were analyzed and comparisons between different products were done using one-way ANOVA and independent samples t tests.
Results: Optimized inorganic prophylaxis paste made of nanocrystalline magnesium phosphate gel (10% w/w) and (30% w/w) hydrated silica was superior to brushing alone and Colgate toothpaste in removing titanium surfaces contaminants and it did not cause surface alteration. The thixotropic and inorganic nature of the nanocrystalline magnesium phosphate implant-paste is ideal for cleaning implant surfaces because unlike the Colgate toothpaste it does not contain organic-based thickeners that adhere tightly on titanium surfaces and change their surface chemistry.
Conclusions: A prophylaxis paste based on inorganic thickening agent is more efficient in decontaminating implant surfaces than a commercial toothpaste with organic thickening agents.