The Study on Inhibition of Planktonic Bacterial Growth by Non-Thermal Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet Treated Surfaces for Dental Application

Investigation of the effects by non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet (NTAPPJ) treatment on the titanium dental implant surfaces for the inhibition of two common pathogens related with dental infections, Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus, was carried out in this study. The commercially pure titanium was used as specimen, which were irradiated by NTAPPJ for 30, 60 and 120 seconds. Specimen without being treated with NTAPPJ was assigned as the control group. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscope and surface contact angle goniometer were used to analyze the effects of NTAPPJ treatment on surface chemistry and hydrophilicity of the specimen. The effects of the NTAPPJ treatment on surfaces, in terms of bacterial attachment, growth, morphology and structural changes were evaluated by the number of colony forming units (CFU) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations. The results showed that there was a reduction of CFUs and the significant change in morphology of bacteria as they were cultured on the titanium surfaces treated with NTAPPJ. These results were related to surface chemical changes and hydrophilicity changes by NTAPPJ. The NTAPPJ treatment is very effective on the dental implant titanium surface treatment that resulted in the inhibition of bacteria and has a great potential to be a promising technique in various clinical dental applications.