Natural Sciences, Stomotology, 2026
ISSN: 1829-006X
EVALUATING ANTIMICROBIAL EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT TREATMENT MODALITIES ON DENTAL IMPLANT SURFACE: AN IN VITRO STUDY
This is an open access article distributed under the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Submitted: 2026-04-08
© 2026 by author(s) and The Gufo Inc.
This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial International License
(CC BY-NC 4.0).
Abstract
Background: Dental implants for replacing missing teeth has become standard practice in dentistry. Biological
complications like peri-implantitis is common and involves biofilm-induced inflammation and bone loss around
implants.
Material and Methods: Sixty standardized titanium discs (10 mm diameter, 2 mm thickness) were fabricated from
grade 4 commercially pure titanium. All discs underwent sandblasting and acid etching to create a surface topography
representative of contemporary dental implants. Surface characterization was performed using scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) to ensure standardization across specimens. The discs were sterilized by gamma irradiation prior
to biofilm formation.
Results: Er:YAG laser and photodynamic therapy achieved the highest bacterial reductions (94.3% and 92.1%).However, Er:YAG laser treatment also caused noticeable surface alterations, including melting and resolidification patterns and smoothing of some surface irregularities.
Conclusion: Photodynamic therapy caused minimal surface alteration compared to other modalities. It may offer the
best balance between antimicrobial efficacy and surface preservation in peri-implantitis management.