Background and purpose: Improvement of anti-bacterial properties of restorative materials to deal with microbes causing secondary caries of tooth has attracted interest of many researchers. Thus, in this study the antibacterial effect of zinc phosphate nanoparticles, synthesized with biological method, was investigated by adding it to glass ionomer cement against the Streptococcus mutans.
Materials and methods: Synthesis of the nanoparticles was carried out using two main sources of zinc nitrate and diammonium hydrogen phosphate in presence of Enterobacter aerogenes.  Furthermore, their antimicrobial effect was investigated by adding different concentrations of nanoparticles (0, 1, 2, 3, and 5%) to glass ionomer. In addition, bacterial cultures of 0.5 McFarland and its medium were added to the above mixture and were incubated in 37ºC. After 3, 6, and 24 hr they were cultured on agar plates to grow. In the end, the number of bacterial colonies grown on the plates was counted and compared.
Results: Adding nanoparticles to glass ionomer improved its antibacterial effect and this effect enhanced when the concentrations of nanoparticles increased.
Conclusion: Synthesized nanoparticles are appropriate to be added to the glass ionomer cements because of their impressive effect on inhibiting the growth of bacteria and sharing same coloring with teeth.
 

Keywords: biosynthesis, zinc phosphate nanoparticles, anti-bacterial properties, glass ionomer, Streptococcus mutans

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