Objective

A novel copper-bearing titanium alloy (Ti–Cu) was fabricated for dental application that is expected to efficiently restrain the growth of bacteria and discourage biofilm formation. The aim of this study was to investigate both the antibacterial activity and biofilm inhibition of Ti–Cu alloy in vitro, and the antibacterial effect of Ti–Cu implant in early stage of peri-implantitis in vivo.

Methods

Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were selected to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Ti–Cu alloy and Ti served as control. The antibacterial rate, attached bacteria and developed biofilms were studied from quantitative antibacterial test, biofilm observation and bacterial morphological examination. Electrochemical tests were used to investigate the corrosion property of Ti–Cu alloy. Furthermore, both Ti and Ti–Cu dental implants were manufactured and then implanted in the mandibular premolar sites of beagle dogs for 3 months with ligature-infected treatment. Implant-tissue samples were prepared for radiographic analysis, Micro-CT evaluation and histological examination.

Results

Ti–Cu alloy was found to efficiently kill the attached bacteria by ways of damaging cell membranes and cell walls and strongly inhibit the biofilm formation. However, Ti–Cu alloy had excellent corrosion resistance similar with Ti. Further, Ti–Cu dental implants showed superior capacities of inhibiting the bone resorption caused by bacterial infection and enhancing bone formation.

Significance

Ti–Cu alloy strongly inhibited biofilm formation in vitro and prevented bacterial infection associated with dental implant in vivo, making it great potential for application in dental implants with excellent antibacterial viability and positive effect against bone resorption induced by peri-implantitis.

中文翻译：

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牙科用抗菌含铜钛合金的体外和体内研究

客观的

一种新型的含铜钛合金（Ti-Cu）是为牙科应用而制造的，有望有效抑制细菌的生长并阻止生物膜的形成。这项研究的目的是研究Ti-Cu合金的体外抗菌活性和生物膜抑制作用，以及Ti-Cu植入物在早期种植体周围炎体内的抗菌作用。

方法

选择金黄色葡萄球菌和大肠杆菌来评估Ti-Cu合金的抗菌活性，并以Ti作为对照。通过定量抗菌试验，生物膜观察和细菌形态学检查研究了抗菌率，附着细菌和形成的生物膜。电化学测试用于研究Ti-Cu合金的腐蚀性能。此外，还制造了Ti和Ti–Cu牙植入物，然后在经过结扎感染的治疗中将其植入比格犬的下颌前磨牙部位3个月。准备植入物组织样品以进行射线照相分析，Micro-CT评估和组织学检查。

结果

发现钛铜合金可通过破坏细胞膜和细胞壁有效杀死附着的细菌，并强烈抑制生物膜的形成。但是，Ti-Cu合金具有与Ti相似的优异的耐蚀性。此外，Ti-Cu牙种植体具有出色的抑制细菌感染引起的骨吸收并增强骨形成的能力。

意义

的Ti-Cu合金强烈抑制生物膜形成的体外和与牙科植入物相关的防止细菌感染的体内，使其成为很大的潜力用于与优良的抗菌活力和抵抗由种植体周围炎诱发骨吸收积极影响牙科植入物的应用。