title: The effect of carbon source and fluoride concentrations in the streptococcus mutans biofilm formation*.
abstract: The main objective of this class experiment is to show the influence of carbon source and of different fluoride concentrations on the biofilm formation by the bacterium Streptococcus mutans. The observation of different biofilm morphology as a function of carbon source and fluoride concentration allows an interesting discussion regarding the metabolic pathways that lead to cavity development, about the role of fluoride on this disease prevention, and also on the importance of biofilm formation to the cariogenic potential of this bacterium, one of the main responsible for this multifatorial disease appearance. On addition to that, the low execution cost and the simple technical apparatus makes this experiment easy to perform.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, FFCLRP-USP, 14040-901 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tony P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Paulino
authors.forename: Ricardo O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Giuliana C M
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Bruschi-Thedei
authors.forename: Geraldo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thedei
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciancaglini