The necessity to manufacture graft materials with superior biocompatibility capabilities and biodegradability characteristics for tissue regeneration has led to the production of extracellular matrix- (ECM-) based scaffolds. Among their advantages are better capacity to allow cell colonization, which enables its successful integration into the tissue surrounding the area to be repaired. In addition, it has been shown that some of these scaffolds have antimicrobial activity, preventing possible infections; therefore, it could be used as an alternative to control surgical infection and decrease the use of antimicrobial agents. The purpose of this review is to collect the existing information about antimicrobial activity of the ECM and their components.

Dental caries is an infectious oral disease originated by the presence of different microorganisms from well-defined biofilms. Many treatments for dental caries have been demonstrated to be successful protocols; however, incidence and prevalence remain still high. Although silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have shown excellent antimicrobial properties, even against different oral bacteria, there is no available scientific information that has evaluated the antimicrobial activity of AgNPs against oral biofilms from subjects with active dental caries. The objective of this research was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of AgNPs in dental biofilms from subjects with and without dental caries. Two sizes of AgNPs were prepared and characterized. Dental plaque samples were collected from 30 subjects with dental caries and 30 subjects with no dental caries. Microbiological analysis was determined by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of nanoparticles, and the presence and distribution of microbial strains were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. AgNPs had significant antimicrobial effects against all samples of dental plaque; however, the physical properties of AgNPs, as well as specific sociodemographic and clinical conditions from patients, were also associated with bacterial growth inhibition of Ag particles ( ). PCR confirmed the presence of oral bacteria associated with dental caries, such as S. mutans and S. sobrinus strains, principally. The AgNPs exhibited great potential to be used as an antimicrobial therapy for the control and prevention of dental caries.

Background: Motor and intellectual disabilities (MIDs) represent a great challenge for maintaining general health due to physical and cognitive limitations, particularly in the maintenance and preservation of oral health. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have emerged as a promising therapeutic tool for bacterial control, including oral biofilms; however, knowledge of the bactericidal effectiveness of oral biofilms from patients with MIDs is insufficient. This study aims to determine the antimicrobial effect of AgNPs on different oral biofilms taken from patients with and without MIDs. Methods: Two sizes of AgNPs were prepared and characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Through consecutive sampling, biofilm samples were collected from 17 subjects with MIDs and 20 subjects without disorders. The antimicrobial effect was determined by obtaining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgNPs, and the identification and distribution of oral bacterial species were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Finally, correlations between sociodemographic characteristics and the antimicrobial levels of AgNPs were also explored. The values of the MIC results were analyzed with IBM-SPSS software (version25) using non-parametric tests for independent groups and correlations, with statistical significance being considered as p < 0.05. Results: Both sizes of AgNPs exhibited tight particle size distributions (smaller: 10.2 ± 0.7 nm; larger: 29.3 ± 2.3 nm) with zeta potential values (−35.0 ± 3.3 and −52.6 ± 8.5 mV, respectively) confirming the stability that resulted in little to no agglomeration of nanoparticles. Although both sizes of AgNPs had good antimicrobial activity in all oral biofilms, the smallest particles had the best antimicrobial effects on the oral biofilm samples from patients with and without MIDs, even better than chlorhexidine (CHX) (p < 0.05). Likewise, the patients with disabilities showed higher levels of antimicrobial sensitivity to AgNPs compared with CHX (p < 0.05). Although the microorganisms included in the biofilms of females had a statistically higher growth level, the AgNP antimicrobial effect was statistically similar in both genders (p > 0.05). The most frequent bacteria for all oral biofilms were S. mutans (100%), P. intermedia (91.6%), T. forsythia (75.0%), T. denticola (75.0%), P. gingivalis (66.6%), F. nucleatum (66.6%), S. sobrinus (50.0%), and A. actinomycetemcomitans (8.3%). Conclusions: AgNPs exhibited considerable antimicrobial potential to be used as a complementary and alternative tool in maintaining and preserving oral health in patients with MIDs.

Background/Objectives: Root canal infections represent a serious challenge to the success of endodontic treatment. The most commonly used antimicrobial irrigants, such as sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), have certain limitations, while endodontic biofilms pose a significant microbiological complexity in the endodontic field. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have emerged as a promising irrigant option in root canal treatments; however, few studies are focusing on endodontic biofilms. This work aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial and anti-adherence properties of AgNPs against clinically isolated bacteria taken directly from patients with various pulp and periapical diseases. Methods: AgNPs of two sizes were synthesized and characterized. The bactericidal and anti-adherence activities of AgNPs were evaluated through microbiological assays using experimental in vitro and ex vivo tests on oral biofilms taken from patients with symptomatic apical periodontitis (AAP) and pulp necrosis (PN). NaOCl solution was used as the gold standard. Results: The size of AgNPs was uniformly distributed (13.2 ± 0.4 and 62.6 ± 14.9 nm, respectively) with a spherical shape. Both types of nanoparticles exhibited good antimicrobial and anti-adherence activities in all microbiological assays, with a significant difference from NaOCl for in vitro and ex vivo models (p < 0.05). The inhibitory activity of AgNPs is mainly related to the type of microbiological sample and the exposure time. The antibacterial substantivity of both nanoparticle sizes was time-dependent. Conclusions: AgNPs may represent a promising antimicrobial option as an endodontic irrigant during conventional root canal treatments to prevent and control endodontic infections.

Introduction: Pulp necrosis is a common reason of root canal treatment in primary teeth. The red complex and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A.a.) have been associated with pulpal pathologies. Objective: the present study was evaluate the prevalence of the red complex and A.a. in dental plaque, root canal and periapical abscesses of primary teeth with necrotic pulp in children from 3-to-9 years old. Materials and methods: Samples of the three sites were preserved and microorganisms were identified by PCR. Results: Twenty-six children (5.5 ± 1.7 years old) were evaluated, 92.3% were positive for bacteria at least in one place. The most prevalent microorganism was T. forsythia (76.9%) and the least T. denticola (11.5%). However, A.a was not found in any sample. Bacterial plaque was the most prevalent place of bacteria (80.7%, p

This study aimed to evaluate if the change of vehicle for CTZ (Chloramphenicol, Tetracycline, zinc oxide, and Eugenol) paste improves the inhibition of Enterococcus faecalis in vitro. The vehicles evaluated alone and mixed with CTZ were Eugenol, propylene glycol (PG), super-oxidized solution (SOS), grapefruit-seed extract (GSE), and 0.9% saline solution as a negative control. A clinical isolate of E. faecalis was morphologically and biochemically characterized, and its antimicrobial susceptibility was tested using 20 antimicrobial agents. Once characterized, the clinical isolate was cultivated to perform the Kirby–Bauer disc diffusion method with paper discs embedded with the different vehicles mixed or used alone, and incubated at 37 °C for 24 h. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, and the means were compared using Tukey test with a significance level of p < 0.05. For vehicles used alone, GSE presented the greatest inhibition showing a statistically significant difference with the rest of the vehicles. When vehicles were mixed with the CTZ paste, PG showed a greater inhibition with a statistically significant difference from the rest of the vehicles. In conclusion, the vehicle used to mix the CTZ paste plays an important role in the inhibition of E. faecalis in vitro; therefore, we consider that this can be an important factor to achieve success in the use of this technique.