title: Non-contact removal of coadhering and non-coadhering bacterial pairs from pellicle surfaces by sonic brushing and de novo adhesion.
abstract: Coadhesion between oral microbial pairs is an established factor in the spatiotemporal development and prevalence of mixed-species communities in early dental plaque in vivo. This study compares removal and de novo adhesion of pairs of coadhering and non-coadhering oral actinomyces and streptococci by sonic brushing on salivary pellicles in a non-contact mode as a function of the distance between the brush and the pellicle surface in vitro. First, actinomycetes were adhered to a pellicle surface, after which streptococci suspended in saliva were allowed to adhere. Removal was examined by non-contact, sonic brushing with a wetted brush on a either a wetted or a substratum immersed to a depth of 7 mm. After brushing, de novo adhesion of streptococci to brushed pellicles was studied. For coadhering and non-coadhering pairs, 34% and 9%, respectively, of the adhering bacteria were involved in aggregates comprising more than 10 organisms. Non-contact, sonic brushing removed up to 99% of the adhering bacteria, regardless of the state of immersion of the substratum. Bacterial removal decreased with increasing distance of up to 6 mm between brush and pellicle surface. For the non-coadhering pair, subsequent exposure of pellicles to a streptococcal suspension yielded about 6% of bacteria involved in large aggregates. Alternatively, de novo adhesion of the coadhering streptococcal strain to pellicles brushed on the wetted substratum yielded 31% of bacteria involved in large aggregates, but after brushing the immersed substratum only 12% of the adhering bacteria were found in large aggregates. It is concluded that non-contact sonic brushing, under immersion, removes high percentage of adhering bacterial pairs up to a distance of 6 mm between the brush and the pellicle surface. However, non-contact, sonic brushing with only a thin wet film on the substratum may leave footprints to which streptococci preferentially adhere.
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. h.j.busscher@med.rug.nl
authors: H J
authors: HJ
authors: Busscher
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Rustema-Abbing
authors: G M
authors: GM
authors: Bruinsma
authors: M
authors: M
authors: de Jager
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Gottenbos
authors: H C
authors: HC
authors: van der Mei
mesh_terms: D000190:Actinomyces / Q000502:physiology; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D003741:Dental Deposits / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D044622:Dental Pellicle / Q000382:microbiology*; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D019533:Streptococcus oralis / Q000502:physiology; D013298:Streptococcus sanguis / Q000502:physiology; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014465:Ultrasonics; D017155:Wettability