Ag-Doped Sol-Gel Derived Novel Composite Materials for Dental Applications

The aim of this work was to improve a newly developed family of glass-ceramic composite materials by incorporating silver ions in the ceramic structure, thus developing new Ag-doped materials with the ability of showing antibacterial activity for dental applications. Two different sol-gel methodologies were applied for the fabrication of colorless, homogenous and chemically durable materials which can slowly release silver ion for relatively long periods. Both methods led to the successful development of Ag-doped glass-ceramics with silver ions incorporated in the structure that can slowly release in buffer solution, during a period of 45 days. The potential, application of these materials involve the development of bioactive surfaces on dental substrates which can seal the marginal gap creating a bacterial free environment finally supporting the success of dental restorations.