Abstract
Discharges from anopthalmic sockets are reported to be one of the highest concerns for the patients wearing ocular prostheses. The main cause of mucoid discharge is known to be from the build-up of deposits on the surface, but there has been no studies reported to date. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the effect of surface roughness on biofilm adhesion to clear heat-cured poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) used for ocular prostheses. In this experiment specimens (N = 10) in 5 groups were polished with different grit silicone carbide papers (Group 1 - P500, Group 2 - P800, Group 3 - P1200, Group 4 - P2000 and Group 5 - P4000) and the specimens in Control (N = 10) were polished with the standard dental laboratory polishing technique commonly used for polishing the ocular prostheses. The surface roughness was measured with a confocal laser-scanning microscope and calculated with ImageJ. The biofilm adhesion experiment was carried out using Candida albicans (C. albicans) cultured from a YPD (Yeast Extract, Peptone and D-Glucose) agar plate. The results from the experiment showed that the specimens in P1200 (Ra: 1.3308μm) had the largest amount of C. albicans attachment with 28.60μm2 surface coverage, and the Control had clinically acceptable average surface roughness (Ra) (0.205μm) with least amount of C. albicans attachment with 3.58μm2.