Antifungal and physical characteristics of modified denture base acrylic incorporated with silver nanoparticles

Objective: This study evaluated the antifungal and physical characteristics of denture base acrylic combined with silver nanoparticles. Materials and methods: Polymerized denture acrylic disc specimens containing 0 (control), 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0 and 30.0 wt% of silver nanoparticles were placed on separate culture plate dish and 100 iL samples of yeast suspension of Candida albicans strain were inoculated on each specimens and incubated at 37 degrees C, for 24 h. The antifungal effects were evaluated as a number of viable cells in retrieved fungal suspension. To characterize physical aspects, specimens were tested for elution of silver cation (Ag+) at 24 h and 30th day, thermal analysis (TG/DTA), scanning electron microscope and energy dispersed X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX) and color stability. Results: Significant reduced CFU was exhibited at 20.0 and 30.0 wt% of silver nanoparticles incorporated (p < 0.01) and Ag+ elution from specimens (maximum 0.356 +/- 0.11 mg/L) contributed little to the antifungal activity considering MIC of Ag+ in this study (3.0 mg/L). The successful synthesis of modified denture acrylic containing silver nanoparticles was accessed by TG/DTA and EDX analysis. Conclusion: The modified denture base acrylic combined with silver nanoparticles displayed antifungal properties and acted like latent antifungal material itself with low-releasing Ag+, however, the improvement of poor color stability was still required.