Investigation of helicobacter pylori presence in dental prostheses and investigation of biofilm formation in prosthesis materials

Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common infectious agent in the world. With the confirmation of H. pylori's role in various gastroduodenal diseases such as chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, studies on H. pylori have gained importance. The presence of H. pylori in oral cavity, dental plaque, saliva and its effect on periodontal infection, gastric infection, reinfection, and treatment has been a topic of interest to many researchers. In our study, the presence of H. pylori on the inner surfaces of dental prostheses was investigated, considering that there may be another niche other than saliva, dental plaque, etc., which may be a source for infection/reinfection for H. pylori in the oral cavity and whether H. pylori forms a biofilm in dental prosthesis materials. In the first stage of our study, we investigated the presence of H. pylori in dental prostheses of 200 patients by real-time PCR method. In the second stage, the biofilm-forming potential of H. pylori in dental prosthesis base materials such as chrome cobalt, chromium-nickel, zirconium, titanium, dental ceramic, acrylic, and also in polystyrene was investigated with the help of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Nineteen prostheses of 200 patients were found to be positive for H. Pylori by real-time PCR method. As a result of SEM analysis, it was determined that H. pylori formed the highest density biofilm on dental ceramic and titanium was found to be second high. Biofilm formation was observed at low density in chromium-cobalt, zirconium, and acrylic materials, and at the lowest density was found in chromium-nickel. The biofilm density of the control material polystyrene was found to be medium. Our results showed that H. pylori, which is reported to be found in saliva and dental plaque in the oral cavity, can also be found in dental prostheses and that the prostheses can create a suitable environment for colonization. Therefore, it was thought that the potential of H. pylori to form a biofilm on the inner surfaces of dental prostheses might cause the bacteria to not get affected by the antibiotic treatment, leading to treatment failure/reinfection. We believe that the data obtained from this study, which is the first research conducted with dental prostheses, will contribute to future studies that will investigate the biofilm formation potential in the oral cavity, antibiotic resistance, and eradication of H. pylori.