Sequence of oral bacterial co-adhesion and non-contact brushing.
Non-contact plaque removal offers advantages in interproximal spaces, fissures, and pockets. It requires the generation of strong fluid flows and the inclusion of air bubbles to become effective. A pair of co-adhering streptococci and actinomyces has been used previously to demonstrate non-contact removal by sonic brushing. Here we determined the influence of the sequence of co-adhesion of streptococci and actinomyces on non-contact removal from a salivary pellicle by rotary and sonic brushing. After bacterial adhesion, pellicles were brushed in a wet and immersed state, with a distance up to 4 mm to the bristle tips. Bacteria adhering to pellicles from the sequence streptococci followed by actinomyces appeared more difficult to remove and left more large co-aggregates than from the sequence actinomyces followed by streptococci. At contact, rotary and sonic brushing performed equally well in bacterial removal, while at 4 mm, both had lost some efficacy.
van der Mei
H C
HC
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University Medical Center Groningen, and University of Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands. h.c.van.der.mei@med.umcg.nl
Rustema-Abbing
M
M
Bruinsma
G M
GM
Gottenbos
B
B
Busscher
H J
HJ
D000190:Actinomyces; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D044622:Dental Pellicle / Q000382:microbiology*; D004560:Electricity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D008297:Male; D019533:Streptococcus oralis; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014465:Ultrasonics