title: A comprehensive study into the impact of a chitosan mouthwash upon oral microorganism's biofilm formation in vitro.
abstract: Modern dentistry emphasizes the importance of dental plaque control to improve oral health. To that end the development of oral care formulations has been geared toward the incorporation of antiplaque agents that may play a crucial role in oral health maintenance. In later years the research into antiplaque agents has led to the discovery of compounds with significant capability to affect biofilm formation. Among these compounds was chitosan, a polysaccharide which showed great ability to interfere with Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation. As such the aim of this work was to incorporate chitosan into a mouthwash matrix and assess its effect upon biofilm formation of oral microorganisms. This assessment was performed via study of the impact the mouthwash upon microbial adherence, biofilm formation and mature biofilms. Additionally, the action of the chitosan mouthwash was compared with two commercially available mouthwashes. The results here obtained show that only the chitosan containing mouthwash was capable of interfering with all microorganisms' adherence, biofilm formation and mature biofilms while at the same time showing vastly superior activity than both commercial mouthwashes assayed. As such a chitosan mouthwash shows great potential as a natural and efficient alternative to traditional mouthwashes.
authors.affiliation: CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina - Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Portuguesa/Porto, Rua Dr. António Bernardino Almeida, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Madureira
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cardelle-Cobas
authors.forename: F K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Tavaria
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Pintado
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena / Q000187:drug effects; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D048271:Chitosan / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009055:Mouth / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology*; D009067:Mouthwashes / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009067:Mouthwashes; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Antibiofilm; Candida albicans; Chitosan; Mouthwash; Streptococcus mutans