Systematic review of silver and vanadium-based antibiofilm agents: mechanisms and efficacy in oral biofilms.

Aim: To review the literature on the efficacy of silver (Ag) and vanadium (V) in disorganizing and eradicating oral biofilms (OB).

Materials & methods: A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines, with searches performed in PubMed, Lilacs, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ProQuest databases.

Results: Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) showed efficacy in disorganizing and eradicating OB of Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Streptococcus mutans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida glabrata, but were less effective against Candida albicans. Vanadium chloroperoxidase (VCPO) disorganized OB of S. mutans and eradicated E. faecalis. The association of Ag and V in the compound β-AgVO₃ showed high biofilm eradicating effect.

Conclusion: Ag exhibits significant antibiofilm effect against Gram-positive and Gram-negative oral bacteria, with limited activity against C. albicans. The antibiofilm activity of V compounds requires further validation. The association of Ag and V presented efficacy in eradicating OB. These findings highlight the potential for integrating Ag and V compounds into dental materials to enhance oral health. Despite methodological heterogeneity and limitations in evaluating unispecies biofilms under in vitro conditions, future research should standardize methodologies and validate these effects in vivo to assess their clinical potential.