Mussel-inspired novel coating with cariogenic biofilm inhibition and in situ remineralization properties for caries treatment

Dental caries is a biofilm-mediated dynamic disease with imbalance in teeth mineralization. In this study, a facile and dual-functional hybrid polydopamine@proanthocyanidin (PDA@PC) coating was designed to inhibit cariogenic biofilm and remineralize demineralized dental hard tissues. PDA@PC showed excellent antibiofilm ability with a lower cariogenic bacterial biofilm biomass (0.15 ± 0.03 OD595nm) than the control group (1.45 ± 0.16 OD595nm). In addition, a dense mineral layer was observed on the surface of demineralized enamel. The microhardness of etched enamel with PDA@PC coating reached 329.28 ± 10.16 HV after incubation with artificial saliva, which was similar with the healthy enamel (368.5 ± 17.18 HV). Furthermore, the in vivo rat dental caries model showed that the PDA@PC coating effectively slowed down the progression of caries, with only superficial demineralization and low dental caries scores. The total score was 3-4 times lower than that of the control group. The successful construction of the dual-functional hybrid PDA@PC coating provides a novel approach for dental caries treatment.