Chitosan – antibacterial use in dental materials -

Chitosan is produced commercially from crab and shrimp shell wastes with different degrees of deacetylation and molecular masses. Because of chitosan’s promising biological activities, including non-toxicity and antimicrobial activity, it is used for a variety of purposes in food production, medicine, agriculture, cosmetics, and biotechnology.

Antibacterial effects of native and methacrylate modified chitosan -

Commercial resin-based composites are mainly composed of dimethacrylate-based monomers, such as triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA), inorganic fillers and a coupling agent. Cured resinbased composites have no antibacterial effect against oral bacteria and half of all fillings replaced are because of new caries . Chitosan is a natural carbohydrate polymer derived from the deacetylation of chitin. Chitosan has been shown to have an inhibitor effect on the adherence of oral bacteria onto human tooth surfaces.