Candida albicans adhesion on 3D-printed and thermopolymerizable polymethyl methacrylate for removable prostheses.

Purpose: To compare Candida albicans adhesion and quantify the biofilm formed on thermopolymerizable (T.PMMA) and 3D printing (3D.PMMA) polymethyl methacrylate through quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Methods: The specimens were made (n= 39/material) by conventional polymerization (T.PMMA) and designed in Autodesk Meshmixer software, followed by 3D printing (3D.PMMA) - CAD-CAM method. After the roughness standardization, the monospecies biofilm of C. albicans (ATCC 10231) was submitted to adhesion analysis, verifying the quantification and microbial load, in triplicate, by the methods of counting colony forming units (CFU/mL) and staining with crystal violet, followed by optical density reading, respectively. Qualitative analyses were performed by scanning electron microscopy to analyze the surface characteristics of the specimens and biofilm formed. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparisons between resins regarding the count of CFU/mL (log¹⁰+ 1) and optical density values (P≤ 0.05).

Results: T.PMMA (5.78 ± 0.43) had a CFU/mL count (P< 0.001) higher than 3D.PMMA (4.84 ± 0.39). There was a difference between C. albicans biofilm accumulation (P< 0.001), in which on T.PMMA (1.59 ± 0.31) was higher than 3D.PMMA (1.10 ± 0.14). The qualitative analyses corresponded to the quantitative ones and allowed the visualization of more porosities in T.PMMA.

Clinical significance: The adhesion (microbial load and biofilm accumulation) of C. albicans was lower in the 3D printed polymethyl methacrylate when compared to the thermopolymerizable model.