Adherence in vitro of Candida albicans to plasma treated acrylic resin. Effect of plasma parameters, surface roughness and salivary pellicle

The adhesion of Candida albicans to surfaces is the prerequisite for occurrence of denture stomatitis.Objective: Hence, this study investigated if surface modifications with plasma treatments could reduce the adherence of C. albicans to a denture base resin.Methods: Specimens (n = 180)with roughened and smooth surfaces were made and divided into five groups: control specimens were left untreated; experimental groups specimens were submitted to plasma treatments to obtain surfaces with different hydrophobicity (Ar/50 W; ArO(2)/70 W; AAt/130 W) or incorporation of fluorine (Ar/SF(6)70 W). Contact angle measurements were performed immediately after the treatments and after immersion in water for 48 h. For each group, half of the specimens were incubated with saliva prior to the adhesion assay. The number of adherent yeasts was evaluated by XTT reduction method.Results: For the experimental groups, there was significant change in the mean contact angle after 48 h of immersion in water. Groups ArO(2)/70 W and ArSF(6)/70 W showed significantly lower absorbance readings than the other groups, regardless the presence or absence of saliva and surface roughness.Conclusions: Results demonstrated that ArO(2)/70 W and ArSF(6)/70 W plasma treatments showed promising potential for reducing the adherence of C. albicans to denture base resins. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.