Mussel-inspired novel coating with cariogenic biofilm inhibition and in situ remineralization properties for caries treatment

Abstract

Dental caries is a biofilm-mediated dynamic disease associated with imbalance in teeth mineralization. In this study, a facile and dual-functional hybrid polydopamine@proanthocyanidin (PDA@PC) coating was designed to inhibit cariogenic biofilm formation and remineralize demineralized dental hard tissues. PDA@PC exhibited excellent antibiofilm ability with a lower cariogenic bacterial biofilm biomass (0.15 ± 0.03 OD_595nm) than that (1.45 ± 0.16 OD_595nm) exhibited by the control group. In addition, a dense mineral layer was observed on the surface of demineralized enamel. The microhardness of etched enamel with the PDA@PC coating reached 329.28 ± 10.16 HV after incubation with artificial saliva, which was similar to the healthy enamel (368.5 ± 17.18 HV). Furthermore, the in vivo rat dental caries model showed that the PDA@PC coating effectively slowed down the progression of caries, with only superficial demineralization and low dental caries scores. The total score was 3–4 times lower than that of the control group. The successful construction of the dual-functional hybrid PDA@PC coating provides a novel approach for dental caries treatment.