Bacterial adhesion to dental alloys. The role of the surface and composition

In the oral cavity, many bacteria can only survive by adhering to hard surfaces. The roughness and free energy of these surfaces play an important part in this process. Precision dental alloys may undergo corrosion, but findings show that this does not seem to cause problems of biocompatibility. The release of metallic ions into the oral cavity may both inhibit bacterial growth and influence bacterial adhesion. The object of the present study was to bring to light any possible correlation between corrosion and/or ionic release and bacterial adhesion with regard to 18 different types of dental alloy, both before and after polishing.