Comprehensive measurements of salivary pellicle thickness formed at different intraoral sites on Si wafers and bovine enamel

Abstract

The salivary pellicle is a thin acellular film formed on orally exposed surfaces by adsorption of macromolecules from the oral fluids and serves as a protective layer in the maintenance of oral health. Pellicle thickness measurements are a central tool helping to understand how exogenous manipulations may influence pellicle formation. This is of particular importance for the investigation of new preventive and therapeutic approaches. In the present study we determined the kinetics of the in situ pellicle thickness formation at different intraoral sites and investigated how pellicle formation occurs in different individuals. To address the kinetic aspect, the thickness of the in situ pellicle was determined after formation periods of 3 min, 30 min and 120 min. The thickness of the pellicle was either measured on silicon wafers by ellipsometry or on bovine enamel by transmission electron microscopy. We found a physiologically important rapid pellicle formation phase within the first minutes and a slow pellicle formation phase between 30 min and 120 min. Furthermore, our results identify significant inter-individual differences both for the pellicle thickness and for the formation kinetics, indicating the consideration of individual-specific differences of the pellicle layer as an important aspect for future studies.