Biomimetic dental implants are regarded as one of the recent clinical advancements in implant surface modification. Coatings with varying thicknesses and roughness may affect the dental implant surface’s chemical inertness, cell adhesion, and antibacterial characteristics. Different surface coatings and mechanical surface changes have been studied to improve osseointegration and decrease peri-implantitis. The surface medication increases surface energy, leading to enhanced cell proliferation and growth factors, and, consequently, to a rise in the osseointegration process. This review provides a comprehensive update on the numerous biomimetic coatings used to improve the surface characteristics of dental implants and their applications in two main categories: coating to improve osseointegration, including the hydroxyapatite layer and nanocomposites, growth factors (BMPs, PDGF, FGF), and extracellular matrix (collagen, elastin, fibronectin, chondroitin sulfate, hyaluronan, and other proteoglycans), and coatings for anti-bacterial performance, covering drug-coated dental implants (antibiotic, statin, and bisphosphonate), antimicrobial peptide coating (GL13K and human beta defensins), polysaccharide antibacterial coatings (natural chitosan and its coupling agents) and metal elements (silver, zinc, and copper).

Minimal intervention dentistry is now accepted as the contemporary approach for caries management. The development of adjunctive technologies to assist early lesion detection has led to widespread marketing of various devices over the past two decades. A thorough understanding of the clinical relevance and limitations of such devices is required to make valid interpretation of their results. This paper will discuss the most common commercially available carious lesion detection technologies in order to give dental practitioners clear information about the devices' scientific principles, advantages and limitations within a clinical context.

The contemporary approach for operative caries management emphasizes personalized interventions for each patient, dependent upon the individual’s caries susceptibility/risk, the stage of the carious lesion and its activity. The clinician’s challenge is to optimize the extent of cavity preparation and the choice of dental restorative biomaterials, appreciating the benefits offered by ion-releasing restorative materials. There is a growing application of bioactive/bio-interactive materials in minimally invasive operative dentistry, as they may help with tissue recovery by ion release. In case of moderate or extensive occlusal cavitation, the clinical criteria include the individual caries susceptibility and carious lesion activity. In high caries risk cases, ion-releasing biomaterials (IRB) can be used, as well as for active carious lesions. In proximal lesions, the clinical criteria include the individual caries susceptibility, the lesion activity and presence of cavities with little or no enamel at the gingival margin. This article aims to discuss the restorative ion-releasing options, according to different clinical situations, and the caries susceptibility to manage cavitated carious lesions in permanent adult teeth.

Recent years have been marked by a paradigm shift in the study of the human microbiota, with a re-emergence of culture-dependent approaches. Numerous studies have been devoted to the human microbiota, while studies on the oral microbiota still remain limited. Indeed, various techniques described in the literature may enable an exhaustive study of the microbial composition of a complex ecosystem. In this article, we report different methodologies and culture media described in the literature that can be applied to study the oral microbiota by culture. We report on specific methodologies for targeted culture and specific culture techniques and selection methodologies for cultivating members of the three kingdoms of life commonly found in the human oral cavity, namely, eukaryota, bacteria and archaea. This bibliographic review aims to bring together the various techniques described in the literature, enabling a comprehensive study of the oral microbiota in order to demonstrate its involvement in oral health and diseases.

Background and Aims: Previous observational studies found inconsistent associations between serum vitamin D levels and dental caries risk. A dose-response meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies was performed to investigate the association. Methods: To April 2023, the ISI Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched for published papers. Finally, 13 cross-sectional studies were considered that provided odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for dental caries in relation to serum vitamin D levels across all age groups. Two reviewers conducted a thorough screening of the studies, data extraction, bias risk assessment, and evidence quality. A random-effect model was used to assess the pooled estimated odd ratios (with 95% confidence intervals). A weighted mixed-effects dose-response meta-analysis in one stage was carried out. Results: Dental caries was significantly more likely to occur when serum vitamin D levels were low compared to high (OR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.18, 1.68; GRADE = poor confidence). With a 10 nmol/L increase in serum vitamin D level, linear dose-response analysis showed a significant 3% (OR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.96, 0.99) decrease in the likelihood of dental caries. Serum vitamin D levels and dental caries were found to be inversely correlated, with a significant dose-response relationship at levels greater than 78 nmol/L. Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed that vitamin D insufficiency was strongly associated with dental caries, and that a 10 nmol/L increase in blood 25(OH)D levels was linked to a 3% decrease in dental caries. However, the findings may have less clinical significance due to the uncertainty of the evidence.

The antibacterial activity, and the effect of the application of additional topical fluoride on the bacterial activity, biofilm formation, and surface roughness of new-generation hybrid/fluoride-releasing materials were investigated. Two hundred and forty specimens were prepared in split Teflon molds (8 × 2 mm) from a resin composite (as negative control: G-aenial A’Chord/GC), Equia Forte HT Fil(GC), Equia Forte HT Fil+Equia Forte Coat, Riva Self-Cure (SDI), Riva Self-Cure+Equia Forte Coat, Zirconomer (Shofu), Beautifil II (Shofu), and Riva Silver (Shofu). Penicillin G,1U was used as positive control. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by the agar diffusion test immediately after the materials set using Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) and Lactobacillus casei (L. casei), and repeated after application of 0.20% w/w (900 ppm) topical fluoride. The biofilm formation of S. mutans on each material was quantified by crystal violet staining. Surface roughness of the specimens was measured by a profilometer. The data were analyzed by Kruskal–Wallis, Dunn’s, one-way ANOVA, and Tukey’s HSD tests (p < 0.05). None of the tested restorative materials showed antibacterial activity and no inhibition zones were observed after treatment of the restoratives with additional topical fluoride. There were significant differences among the groups in terms of biofilm formation (p < 0.005). Equia Forte HT Fil with and without coating showed the lowest, while Riva self-cure without coating and Zirconomer showed the highest biofilm accumulation. None of the new-generation hybrid/fluoride-releasing materials demonstrated antibacterial activity and additional topical fluoride application did not make any change. Biofilm formation of the tested materials differed. All tested materials showed different surface roughness values (p < 0.005). Characteristics and compositions of the materials seemed to be more effective than the surface roughness.