# Rechargeable Infection-responsive Anticandidal Denture Materials

> **NIH VA I01** · SOUTH TEXAS VETERANS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM · 2022 · —

## Abstract

Candida-associated denture stomatitis (CADS) is a common, recurring disease among denture wearers and
can lead to other oral health problems, systemic infections, compromised quality of life, and even life threating
conditions. Our elderly veteran denture wearers are more prone to develop CADS since many of them are
medically and immunologically compromised due to systemic, physical, and mental diseases and their
associated therapies (e.g., antibiotics, steroid therapies, and xerostomic drugs). Currently, there are no
effective treatment strategies for controlling CADS and the reinfection rate is high, affecting up to 67% of
denture wearers.
This renewal application builds upon the results of our previous funding period in which we used a
rechargeable “click-on/click-off” anticandidal technology to develop long-term, infection-responsive denture
base materials. The functional polymer grafts, including poly-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone (PNVP), polymethacrylic
acid (PMAA), and poly-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PHEMA), were covalently bound onto denture discs using
plasma as an energy source. These novel functionalized denture materials were capable of binding sufficient
quantities of antifungal drugs, such as miconazole and chlorhexidine digluconate, and provide potent
longlasting antifungal effects by release of the drugs into PBS or human saliva over the course of weeks to
months. At the end of the experiment (or therapy for a patient), any remaining drug bound to the surface could
be “washed off’ with a quenching solution. For clinical applications, the “quenched” denture could be returned
to the patient for regular use or, if the infection recurred or persisted, be recharged with the same or different
class of antifungal agent.
Our long-term goal is to develop this rechargeable, “click-on/click-off” anticandidal technology to control CADS
in clinical applications. Previous studies of denture discs have not addressed problems associated with the
topology, bulk properties, physical/mechanical properties, dimensional stability, and drug loading/releasing
properties from 3D complete dentures. The objective of this renewal is to further demonstrate proof of principle
in this pre-translational stage regarding clinical utility of the new strategy. The specific aims of the proposed
research are to: (1) fabricate 3D dentures, using the “click on/click off” anticandidal technology, for use in a rat
model and evaluate their physical/mechanical properties and drug binding/releasing behaviors; (2) evaluate
the new anticandidal rat 3D dentures for their biocompatibility and anticandidal activity under clinically
simulated conditions; and (3) evaluate the new anticandidal 3D dentures in a rat denture stomatitis model.
Further development of this new technology has the potential to significantly improve the quality of oral care
delivered to our veterans by effectively managing CADS and its accompanying complications. If successful,
this new denture material will be...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10455453
- **Project number:** 5I01BX001103-08
- **Recipient organization:** SOUTH TEXAS VETERANS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** CHIH-KO YEH
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-10-01 → 2024-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10455453

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10455453, Rechargeable Infection-responsive Anticandidal Denture Materials (5I01BX001103-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10455453. Licensed CC0.

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