ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

Sec. Biomaterials

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1590348

This article is part of the Research TopicAdvanced Technologies for Oral and Craniomaxillofacial TherapyView all 12 articles

Optimization of a novel dental self-healing resin composite by bacteria-induced biomineralization

Provisionally accepted
Yanyan HanYanyan Han1,2,3Xiaoxuan ZhangXiaoxuan Zhang4Jianing WengJianing Weng4Shiqi TianShiqi Tian4Dong XianDong Xian5Zhiheng CaiZhiheng Cai1,2,3Yi ZhangYi Zhang5Tiantian WuTiantian Wu1,2,3*Dan LinDan Lin5*Yaqin ZhuYaqin Zhu1,2,3*
  • 1Department of General Dentistry, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • 2College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
  • 3National Center for Stomatology; National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology; Shanghai Research Institute of Stomatology, Shanghai, China
  • 4Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
  • 5College of Medical Technology, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China

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Introduction: Dental resin restorations often fail due to microcrack expansion, causing fractures and secondary caries. Self-healing resin composites based on Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) offer a solution. In these composites, moisture and air activate bacteria to precipitate calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and repair microcracks. When a crack seals, bacteria become dormant or form spores until the next crack forms, triggering repeated self-healing (Figure 1).This study involved the optimization of nutrients to enhance biocompatibility, the preparation of dental resin composites incorporating eight different bacterial strains, the investigation of Mn 2+ to enhance self-healing properties, and the utilization of a method to evaluate self-healing efficiency tailored for the oral environment. This method took a microscopic view of the healing process in artificial saliva, and the self-healing efficiency was determined by quantifying the scratch area.In the final results, Bacillus sphaericus (ATCC 4525) cultured with Mn 2+ exhibited the most impressive self-healing effect, while Bacillus pasteurii (B80469) had the weakest self-healing effect in the study. Otherwise, Bifidobacterium longum showed no significant difference between its initial and secondary healing effects.Discussion: This dental self-healing resin composite can undergo multiple rounds of self-repair and boasts high biocompatibility, leading to a significant reduction in the failure rate of dental resin restorations.

Keywords: self-healing, Bacteria, Biomineralization, MICP, CaCO3

Received: 09 Mar 2025; Accepted: 23 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Han, Zhang, Weng, Tian, Xian, Cai, Zhang, Wu, Lin and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Tiantian Wu, Department of General Dentistry, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
Dan Lin, College of Medical Technology, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China
Yaqin Zhu, Department of General Dentistry, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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