The potential of salivary albumin to degrade composite resin

Albumin is a salivary enzyme capable of cleaving ester linkages and catalyzing degradation of resin-based dental materials. However, the effect of concentration-dependent esterolytic action on composite resins as yet remains unexplored. Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether artificial saliva formulations with different concentrations of albumin affected the surface roughness, flexural strength and microhardness of a composite resin. Materials and Method: Specimens (25x2x2mm) of a nanofilled composite (Filtek Z350XT, 3M/ESPE) were prepared and analyzed for average surface roughness (Ra/pm). The specimens were then allocated to 6 groups (n=30), to be treated with different salivary albumin concentrations: 0, 10, 50, 100, 200, 400 pg/mL. The specimens were stored in their respective artificial saliva groups, half of them for 24 h and the remainder for 180 days (artificial saliva renewed weekly), after which they were submitted to a new Ra reading, and tested for three-point flexural strength (FS, MPa). The specimens stored for 180 days were analyzed for Knoop microhardness (KH, Kg/mm(2)). Data were submitted to two-way ANOVA (Ra and FS) and one-way ANOVA (KH). Results: Although Ra increased (p < 0.001) and FS decreased (p < 0.001) from 24 hours to 180 days of storage, the albumin concentration did not significantly affectRa (p = 0.168), FS (p = 0.477) or KH (p = 0.378). Conclusion: The esterolytic action of albumin did not increase the artificial-saliva-induced hydrolytic degradation of the composite resin.