Binding of salivary proteins and oral bacteria to hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces in vivo and in vitro

Chemical modifications of mineral surfaces were performed in order to gain insight into what surface properties are decisive of the accumulation of dental plaque. A non-charged, hydrophilic surface was made by two consecutive plasma polymerizations, firstly with allyl alcohol, secondly with acrylic acid, followed by adsorption of a poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ethylene imine) adduct. A strongly hydrophobic surface was obtained by plasma polymerization of hexamethyldisiloxane. Ellipsometry was used to monitor protein interaction with the surfaces. The hydrophilic surface gave very little adsorption of both a model protein, IgG, and of saliva proteins. The hydrophobic surface, on the other hand, adsorbed high amounts of both types of proteins. In vitro adhesion of an oral bacterium,S. mutans, as well as in vivo studies, gave the opposite result, the hydrophobic surface giving less adhesion and less plaque accumulation than the hydrophilic surface. A tentative explanation of this behavior is that the saliva proteins that bind to the hydrophobic surface adsorb in an unnatural conformation which does not favor bacteria adherence.