Biocompatible and Antibacterial Chemical Coatings on TiZr Dental Implants

This research aims to study the antibacterial coatings of invasive surgical medical devices, including dental implants, to reduce superficial and deep local infections over the long term. To obtain the coating without altering the initial properties of the substrate (dental implant made of TiZr bioalloy), simple, cost-effective, and efficient methods were employed, such as chemical deposition of silver (Ag). The deposition characteristics were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX analysis, and FT-IR infrared analysis. The in vitro testing of antimicrobial activity was conducted using the diffusion method by cultivating the bacterial strains Escherichia coli (<i>E. coli</i>) ATCC25922 and Staphylococcus aureus (<i>S. aureus</i>) ATCC25923 and measuring the diameter of the bacterial inhibition zone. Investigations and biocompatibility evaluations were performed on both uncoated and silver-coated (Ag) samples by analyzing cell viability and morphology in the presence of human fetal osteoblasts (hFOB cell line) and human gingival fibroblasts (HFIB-G cells) after 8 days of incubation. The research results confirm the biocompatibility of the coating, demonstrated by the lack of significant differences in cell density between the Ag-coated samples and the control group, as well as by the fact that the silver-coated surface effectively supports actin cytoskeleton organization, adhesion, and migration of both human osteoblasts and gingival fibroblasts. The results regarding the antibacterial efficiency of the silver implant coating indicated that the <i>E. coli</i> bacterial strain is more resistant than <i>S. aureus</i>. The resistance difference between the two bacterial strains was attributed to differences in the structure of their cell envelopes.