Antifungal Effect of Silver Nanoparticles in Acrylic Resins

Introduction: In patients using dental prosthesis, growth of various microorganisms under the prosthesis base which leads to inflammation and infections such as candidiasis is common. The aim of this study was to assess the antifungal effects of acrylic resins containing silver nanoparticles on candida Albicans.Materials & Methods: To accomplish this in vitro study inorder to prepare acrylic samples, metallic cylindricals with a diameter of 10mm and thickness of 4mm were used. Forty samples as standard control group and 40 samples containing silver nanoparticles in four different concentrations were used. Immersion of samples in fungal suspension (standard and hospitally isolated) were carried out to accomplish antifungal tests. After 0,1,6 and 24 hours the fungal colonies were counted. To describe the data and to compare groups, student-t test was used.Results: In the silver nanoparticles with 2.5% concentration, the highest mean difference for standard candida Albicans after 24 hours of exposure time was 501.0±23.1 and for 5% concentration after 6 hours of exposure time was 953±87 and for 10% concentration after 6 hours of exposure time was 1000±24.9.Conclusion: In acrylic resins, increasing both the silver nanoparticles concentration and the exposure time will increase the antifungal effect.