High translucent
zirconia (HTZ) has excellent mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and good semi-translucency making it an ideal material for aesthetic anterior
dental implant abutments without antibacterial properties. In the oral environment, the surface of the abutment material is susceptible to microbial adhesion and biofilm formation, which can lead to
infection or
peri-implantitis and even implant failure. This study aims to promote the formation of a biological seal at the implant-soft tissue interface by modifying the HTZ surface, using the load-bearing capacity of the
aluminosilicate porous structure and the broad-spectrum antibacterial effect of
silver nanoparticles to prevent peri-implant
bacterial infection and
inflammation and to improve the success rate and prolong the use of the implant. FE-SEM (field emission scanning electron microscopes), EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy), and XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) results showed that
aluminosilicate non-vacuum sintering can form open micro- and nanoporous structures on HTZ surfaces, and that porous
aluminosilicate coatings obtain a larger number, smaller size, and more uniformly shaped
silver nanoparticles than smooth
aluminosilicate coatings, and could be deposited deeper in the coating. The ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy) results showed that the early
silver ion release of both the smooth
silver coating and the porous
silver coating was obvious, the
silver ion concentration released by the former was higher than that of the latter. However, the
silver ion concentration released by the porous
silver coating was higher than that of the smooth coating when the release slowed down. Both smooth and porous
silver coatings both inhibited E. coli (Escherichia coli), S. aureus (Staphylococcus aureus), and L. acidophilus (L. acidophilus), and porous
silver coatings had stronger antibacterial properties. The
silver coating was successfully constructed on the surface of HTZ, through
aluminium silicate sintering and
silver nitrate solution impregnation. It was found that the high concentration environment of
silver nitrate solution was more advantageous for nano-Ag deposition, and the non-vacuum sintered porous surface was able to obtain a larger number of nano-Ag particles with smaller sizes. The porous Ag coating exhibited superior antibacterial properties. It was suggested that the HTZ with
silver coating had clinical application, and good antibacterial properties that can improve the survival rate and service life of implants.