Flower-like ferro-polydopamine nanozymes with peroxidase-like activity for early caries prevention.

INTRODUCTION

Dental caries, a highly prevalent oral disease, significantly compromises oral health. Dental biofilms represent a key etiological factor in caries pathogenesis and pose challenges for eradication due to their protective extracellular matrix.

METHODS

Herein, we rationally designed a ferro-polydopamine nanozyme (FPN) featuring a flower-like morphology and remarkable peroxidase-like (POD-like) activity.

RESULTS

Significantly, FPN efficiently catalyzed low-concentration H2O2 under mildly acidic conditions, exhibiting potent antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) and robust anti-biofilm efficacy in vitro. Furthermore, enamel disks treated synergistically with FPN and low-dose H2O2 demonstrated significantly inhibited enamel demineralization compared to untreated controls under acidogenic challenge, indicating FPN's remarkable preventive capacity against early caries.

DISCUSSION: Collectively, this study demonstrates that FPN, enabled by its superior POD-like activity and biocompatibility, holds substantial translational potential for significantly reducing clinical H2O2 concentrations while effectively preventing early dental caries.