INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BIOACTIVE GLASS AND PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS

Bioactive glasses have been used in periodontal applications such as g rafting infrabony periodontal lesions. We studied a bioactive glass S5 3P4 for its possible antibacterial effects on the periodontal pathogen s Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia and Actinobacillus a ctinomycetemcomitans using agar plate tests. Also the colonisation of the bioactive glass with these microorganisms was studied by incubatin g bacterial suspensions with glass granules. Two precorrosion procedur es were used to create chemically differing surfaces on the bioactive glass. The bioactive glass did not alter the growth properties of any of the tested microorganisms. P. intermedia and A. actinomycetemcomita ns showed adherence both to the untreated and precorroded bioactive gl asses. However, P. gingivalis adhered only to the precorroded glasses and was agglutinated in the presence of the untreated glass. Coating t he untreated glass with serum or Actinomyces viscosus cells did not el iminate the agglutination. Thus, even though the bioactive glas S53P4 did not alter the growth properties of the studied microorganisms it m ay in vivo beneficially modify the microbiota of periodontal lesions b y agglutinating P. gingivalis.