Physicochemical and microbiological assessment of a dental adhesive doped with cashew nut shell liquid.

To evaluate i) the inhibitory and bactericidal activity of cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) and its isolated compounds (anacardic acid and cardol) against oral bacteria; ii) the biofilm formation inhibition, resin-dentin bond strength and physicochemical properties of a dental adhesive incorporated with these substances. The antibacterial effect of CNSL, anacardic acid, and cardol were assessed by determining the minimum inhibitory (MIC) and minimum bactericidal (MBC) concentrations. Effect in inhibiting biofilm formation of the adhesive incorporated with the substances (15 μg/ml) against a mixed-species biofilm of Streptococcus mutans and Candida Albicans and was determined by direct contact test. Additional Analysis included microtensile bond strength (μTBS) test, elastic modulus (EM), flexural strength (FS), degree of conversion (DC), water sorption (WS) and solubility (SL). The data were submitted to statistical analysis by one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (p < 0.05). CNSL, anacardic acid and cardol showed antibacterial activity for all strains tested, with MIC and MBC values ranging from 3.12 to 25 μg/ml. There was no growth of colonies forming units in the adhesives incorporated with the substances. EM increased in the adhesive incorporated with anacardic acid, decreased after incorporation of cardol and it was not affected by incorporation of CNSL. The substances tested showed no effect in FS, DC, WS, SL and μTBS. In conclusion, the CNSL, anacardic acid and cardol showed antibacterial effects against oral bacteria and, the incorporation of substances did not reduce the performance of the adhesive.