Sodium aluminum silicate composite ceramics with secondary caries prevention for dental crown restoration

Scheme 1. Schematic illustration of preventing secondary caries by using sodium aluminum silicate composite ceramics as dental crown restorations. The Zn ions released by the sodium aluminum silicate composite ceramic damage the structure of bacterial membrane and DNA, resulting protein leakage and bacterial death. [Display omitted] •Successful construction of alumina-doped sodium aluminum silicate composite ceramics.•ZnO-doped sodium aluminosilicate composite ceramics (NAS/6Zn) exhibited 99% antibacterial properties.•The Zn ions disrupted the bacterial membrane integrity, promoted the outflow of protein, and led to bacterial death.•This study will provide a new strategy to prevent the occurrence of secondary caries. Secondary caries caused by plaque accumulation at the edge of crown restorations is still a significant reason for crown restoration treatment failures. To prevent secondary caries, it is urgent to develop dental crown restorative materials with good antibacterial ability and mechanically stable properties. In this work, functionalized dental crown restorations were successfully prepared by doping the human trace element Zn into sodium aluminum silicate ceramics (NAS/Zn). The results demonstrated that the NAS/Zn composite ceramics killed Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) effectively. The Zn ions released by NAS/Zn composite ceramics disrupted the bacterial membrane integrity and DNA proliferation, promoted the outflow of protein, and eventually led to bacterial death. Most notably, NAS/Zn composite ceramics exhibited excellent biocompatibility. This study will provide a new strategy to prevent the occurrence of secondary caries via the construction of dental crown restorative materials.