An Integrated Peroxidase-like Nanozyme for Photothermally Enhanced Catalytic Antibacterial Treatment in Multiple Oral Diseases

Dental caries, endodontic infections, and periodontitis are the predominant bacterial diseases that damage oral tissues and even exacerbate systemic disorders. Given the limited efficacy of traditional disinfectants, the current staged approach to dental treatment often fails to achieve a complete cure, frequently necessitating repeated interventions and exposing patients to a high risk of recurrence. Therefore, the development of a highly effective antimicrobial strategy is of great significance for the treatment of oral infectious diseases. Here, we report a multifunctional hybrid nanozyme, referred to as PB@MoS 2 @Au, consisting of a Prussian blue (PB) nanocube core decorated with a molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) shell and further functionalized with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). This nanozyme integrates enhanced peroxidase-like activity and a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 37.4% within the mild-hyperthermia window (≈50 °C). The combined treatment of PB@MoS 2 @Au, low-concentration hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2, 200 μM), and near-infrared (NIR) irradiation exhibited potent antibacterial efficacy against seven representative oral bacterial strains, achieving bactericidal rates as high as 95%. Furthermore, this treatment effectively eradicated bacteria within biofilms, with killing rates exceeding 90%. Most importantly, in an ex vivo tooth infection model, this combined treatment eliminated over 99.5% of Enterococcus faecalis biofilms from root canals within minutes. This remarkable antibacterial performance is primarily attributed to the photothermally enhanced catalytic generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by PB@MoS 2 @Au, together with its direct photothermal effect, which leads to bacterial cell membrane disruption, intracellular content leakage, and glutathione (GSH) depletion, ultimately resulting in bacterial death. Moreover, the system demonstrated favorable biocompatibility and achieved therapeutic efficacy in a rat model of apical periodontitis without inducing significant systemic toxicity. This work demonstrates the promising application potential of the PB@MoS 2 @Au-based combined treatment in oral antimicrobial therapy, particularly for root canal infection control.