Hydrogel-Coated Dental Device with Adhesion-Inhibiting and Colony-Suppressing Properties

Bacterial infection is the main cause of implantation failure worldwide, and the importance of antibiotics on medical devices has been undermined because of antibiotic resistance. Antimicrobial hydrogels have emerged as a promising approach to combat infections associated with medical devices and wound healing. However, hydrogel coatings that simultaneously possess both antifouling and antimicrobial attributes are scarce. Herein, we report an antimicrobial hydrogel that incorporates adhesion-inhibiting polyethylene glycol (PEG) and colony-suppressing chitosan (CS) as a dressing to combat bacterial infections. These two polymers have important environmentally benign characteristics including low toxicity, low volatility, and biocompatibility. Although hydrogels containing PEG and CS have been reported for applications in the fields of wound dressing, tissue repair, water purification, drug delivery, and scaffolds for bone regeneration, there still has been no report on the application of CS/PEG hydrogel coatings in dental applications. Herein, this biointerface shows superior activity in early-stage adhesion inhibition (98.8%, 5 h) and displays remarkably long-lasting colony-suppression activity (93.3%, 7 d). Thus, this novel nanomaterial, which has potential as a dual-functional platform with integrated antifouling and antimicrobial functions with excellent biocompatibility, might be used as a safe and effective antimicrobial coating in biomedical device applications.