Deposition of stain resistance coating by non-thermal plasma brush application to dental whitening

Abstract

A non-thermal plasma brush is employed to deposit stain-resistant SiO2-like coatings on resin composite fillings and bovine teeth. With post-treating by plasma, the hardness of the coating increases from H to 8H and the water contact angle decreases from 98.8° to 61.7°. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results show that, after plasma post-treating, the Si-O-Si and Si-OH bonds of the coating increase. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show the coatings to be uniform, without cracks. The coatings present outstanding performance in a stain resistance test both on resin composite and bovine teeth. Being easy to handle and less time consuming than traditional methods, with a body-friendly temperature and material, this plasma brush provides a promising in-situ coating method on patient teeth in dental clinics.