Esthetic restorative materials and glass ionomer cements: Influence of acidic drink exposure on bacterial adhesion

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to evaluate and compare bacterial adhesion on five esthetic restorative materials, three glass ionomer cements (GIC), and two GIC with coat. All the materials were considered after acidic drink exposure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty cylindrical sample of each of the 10 materials were prepared and then divided into three groups: group 1 (baseline), Group 2 (1 day in acidic soft drink), and Group 3 (7 days in acidic soft drink). Bacterial suspension of Streptococcus mutans was cultured and deposited onto each material, and the adhesion was evaluated through the colony-forming units determination. One-way ANOVA and Bonferroni's post hoc tests were applied to estimate significant differences between the esthetic materials. RESULTS: The highest amount of S. mutans was recorded in Group 3 and the lowest in Group 1 (baseline). In general, the GIC showed bacterial adhesion values higher than the ones related to composites both in Group 2 than in Group 3. Acidic soft drinks lead a time-dependent degradation of restorative materials causing an increase of the surface rugosity. In fact, a general increase in S. mutans cells adhesion to treated samples was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The use of acidic soft drink resulted in a degradation of the surface layer of the restorative material with consequent increase of bacterial adhesion. The GIC can be considered a more friendly environment for bacterial adhesion. This is true in particular if acid substances have already deteriorated the surface.