Membranas bioativas para aplicação em cavidade oral.

Abstract

In this study, bioactive membranes for application in the oral cavity were prepared by incorporating different concentrations of tea tree essential oil (TTO) into chitosan. Two methods for performing encapsulation were employed: direct incorporation of the TTO into chitosan dissolved in acetic acid and incorporation of TTO emulsion - surfactant agent (polysorbate Tween 20) into solution of chitosan. The encapsulation was evaluated by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In order to evaluate the impact of incorporating the TTO into chitosan matrix, the mechanical properties of the bioactive membranes were evaluated and related to its microstructure. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of membranes against Candida albicans, streptococcus oralis and streptococcus mutans was also studied. According to the results, it is shown that chitosan is a good polymeric matrix for encapsulation of essential oil TTO and a homogeneous dispersion of the table TTO was possible with the incorporation of the surfactant emulsion TTO agent Tween 20. The mechanical strength of the membranes was reduced with the incorporation of TTO due to the presence of discontinuities in the matrix. The antimicrobial activity of chitosan was improved by encapsulating the essential oil TTO showing a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of S. oralis.