OBJECTIVEThis study is to determine the common oral streptococcal adhesion forces by using composite resin and glass ionomer cement (GIC) with different degrees of surface roughness via atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. The influence of surface roughness on bacterial adhesion force is also discussed.

METHODSPolishing and grinding were applied to obtain 300, 200, 100, and 10 nm surfaces of light-cured composite resin and GIC samples. Surface topography was assessed by AFM analysis. Initial colonizers (Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus mitis) and cariogenic bacterial strains (Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus) were used to obtain bacteria-modified AFM probes. The force-distance curves were also measured by AFM analysis to determine the adhesion forces of bacteria on the surfaces of the composite resin and GIC. Material surface roughness was analyzed using ANOVA, and adhesion forces were subjected to nonparametric analysis (Kruskal-Wallis test). Comparison among groups was performed by Dunn's test. Material surface roughness and bacterial adhesion forces were subjected to correlation analysis.

RESULTSBacterial adhesion forces increased with increasing material roughness. The adhesion forces of the four bacterial species reached the maximum on the material surface of 300 nm. The adhesion force of Streptococcus mutans increased from 0.578 nN to 2.876 nN on GIC surfaces with 10 and 300 nm roughness. The adhesion forces of the four species on the surface of the composite resin were stronger than that of GIC. The initial colonizers exhibited stronger adhesion forces to different materials than the cariogenic strains. Intergroup differences were evident on the 200 and 300 nm material surfaces.

CONCLUSIONSThe surface roughness of the material significantly affected the bacterial adhesion forces, and a significant linear correlation existed between both factors. The bacterial adhesion forces of the GIC were lower than that of the composite resin. Furthermore, surface roughness exhibited less influence on the cariogenic strains than that on the initial colonizers.