# Polymer-Antibiotic Conjugates as Antibacterial Additives for Dental Resins

> **NIH NIH R21** · STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO · 2020 · $197,037

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Because bacterial infection is not only responsible for dental caries but also the main cause of failure of dental
restorations, development of dental biomaterials with long-term antibacterial efficacy is an important goal.
Although a variety of strategies have been proposed to incorporate antibacterial properties within dental resins,
each strategy has intrinsic limitations. Burst release generally occurs when free antibacterial agents are
incorporated into resins; surface inhibition of bacterial growth by immobilized quaternary ammonium salt (QAS)
can be compromised by surface adsorption of biomolecules; color stability is an issue when inorganic
antibacterial fillers are used. Surprisingly, conjugation of antibiotics into the polymer-based resin matrices for the
development of antibacterial dental biomaterials has not been explored. The central hypothesis of this proposal
is that dental restorative biomaterials based on polymer-antibiotic conjugates (PACs) can offer optimal
antibacterial properties, while maintaining their favorable physical and biocompatibility properties. Therefore, this
proposal aims to systematically prepare PACs and PAC-containing resins, and study their structure-property
relationship in the context of dental restorative applications, with two specific aims. Specific Aim 1 is to develop
PACs and PAC-containing dental resins. Monomer-antibiotic conjugates (MACs) will first be prepared. Then
PACs will be synthesized by polymerization of MACs with a monomer typically used in dental adhesive
applications. The resulting PACs will be used as antibacterial additives in dental adhesives to prepare a library
PAC-containing dental resins. MACs, PACs and PAC-containing resins will be systematically characterized to
verify the success of the synthesis and to reveal their structural features. Specific Aim 2 is to understand the
antibacterial, physical and biocompatibility properties of PACs and PAC-based dental resins. The release profiles
of conjugated antibiotics under bio-relevant conditions will be investigated. Their bacterial inhibition effects will
be studied systematically by using different oral bacterial species. Their risk of inducing antibiotic resistance will
be evaluated. Their biocompatibility with gingival fibroblasts will be assessed. The relationship between their
structures, antibacterial properties and biocompatibility will be interpreted. Synergistic effects of multiple
antibiotics and combinations of antibiotic(s) with immobilized QAS will be studied. Mechanical properties, water
adsorption, contact angle and color stability of the PAC-containing resins will be investigated. Overall, the
proposed studies promise to not only establish the synthetic methodology for PACs and PAC-based antibacterial
resins, but also provide key insights into their structure-property relationship. These studies will lay a solid
foundation for the further development of antibiotic-containing dental formulations for a ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9975136
- **Project number:** 5R21DE028437-02
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO
- **Principal Investigator:** Chong Cheng
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $197,037
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-09 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9975136

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9975136, Polymer-Antibiotic Conjugates as Antibacterial Additives for Dental Resins (5R21DE028437-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9975136. Licensed CC0.

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