Could you prevent the creation of plaque with the things you eat?
Well, I don't know. That's what I'm asking.
A Listerine commercial informed me today of the term "biofilm" and promised that swishing a mouthful of Listerine would eradicate the bacterial coating and further protect the teeth for up to 12 hours. Is biofilm different or stronger than plaque? Is there something worse than bad breath that I have to worry about!?!
The scoop: Not a new notion, biofilm has apparently been studied for years. Dental plaque, with which we are all familiar, is a type of biofilm on our teeth. However, in the last 20 years the study of dental bacteria has changed. It is now studied as a biofilm, a working cohesive network of many microorganisms that behave differently as a community. Identification as a biofilm will affect how plaque will be treated medically and perhaps give more insight into its overall functions and structure, and more importantly how to overcome its stronghold in our mouths.
Bacteria form the biofilm by excreting extracellular DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides in various configurations that create the Extracellular Polymeric Substance (EPS). Microbes form biofilms in response to environmental factors, which includes changes in its nutritional sources. Notable is the fact that microbes' genetic expression also changes in response to building the biofilm, which then produces changes in the bacteria's behavior (phenotype) that surprisingly even includes a primitive mode of communication as well as resistance to antibiotics, antimicrobials, and host immune response. Sneaky little devils...
The biofilm isn't one big pool of bacteria swimming together in their self-made slime (sorry for the visual...); it's organized into microcolonies with differing pH's, oxygen concentrations, and nutrient availability. The microcolonies communicate with one another via chemical signals that travel in their intermicrobial matrix which spans across colonies. The microcolonies grow over a relatively short period of time; the first microbes adhere within minutes, colonize within about 2 hours, and then spread and colonize just after that. This is why your dentist ideally wants you to brush after every meal !!!
If this won't get you brushing, I don't know what will.....
Biofilm is present on the tooth surface, on top of and under the gums (gingitivis, periodontal disease), and unfortunately may travel into the bloodstream and damage other organs and increase internal inflammation. Different bacteria prefer different living quarters and have different colonizing practices. For instance, subgingival (under the gums) bacteria differ from ones that live on top of the gums (supragingival). The former includes the species Lactobacillus (found in gut flora, the vagina, and used for yogurt and cheese production) that produces lactic acid (what causes tooth decalcification), and the latter includes Streptococcus mutans (what causes tooth decay) and Candida albicans (yes, the same that causes vaginal yeast infections).
Suggestions to combat biofilms, due to watching antimicrobials and antibiotics fail to conquer the biowall of terror, include 1) interfering with microbial communication, 2) mimicking the natural defenses of ocean dwellers like whales and dolphins that don’t accumulate bacterial biofilms (LOL I know....give us fins while you're at it), 3) taking in base-generating nutrients to buffer the destructively acidic bacterial environment (possibly with arginine- and/or proline-rich foods), 4) eating sugar substitutes (e.g. sorbitol, xylitol, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, but not fructose), and 5) using anti-inflammatory agents.
Buffering the pH in the mouth is theorized to be a critical factor in controlling the environment of microflora, as low pH (acidic) environments favor the growth of pathogenic over non-pathogenic bacteria and shifts some normally non-pathogenic species to become pathogenic. pH buffering agents present in saliva are active while we're eating and such, but saliva is decreased for about 2 hours after a meal and while we're sleeping. That's why Trident gum, which also contains sugar-substitutes, proclaims that it helps to fight cavities--because it keeps salivary production, and therefore pH buffering capacity, active during the 2 hours right after a meal when our teeth are most vulnerable to the acidic, pathogenic environment.
The metabolism of sugars (glycolysis) in anaerobic bacteria produces lactic acid, which as you can understand lowers the environment's pH, which is why it's proclaimed that sugar causes cavities ! Well then, that's why it's proposed that eating base-generating foods (that will raise the pH) and eating sugar-substitutes are ways to buffer the mouth's pH and halt or slow the formation of caries (cavities) by literally neutralizing the cariogenic environment of pathogenic bacteria.
Arginine and Proline, both non-essential amino acids, are electron and proton acceptors (bases) involved in acid-base reactions in the mouth that raise the pH level. You can also find arginine bicarbonate and calcium carbonate in BasicMints, mints designed to increase the mouth's pH. One can also eat fats, like hard cheeses, that can coat the teeth and limit the surface-attaching ability of bacteria and also enhance the clearance of sugars from the mouth, most likely because the sugars aren't able to be caught and stored in the plaque due to the protective lipid coating. Foods containing linoleic and oleic fatty acids could limit the growth of Streptococcus mutans, as the fatty acids are shown to do so in lab. Sugar-substitutes are not normal substrates for glycolysis and bacteria have a hard time metabolizing these compounds, if they are able to at all. If they are able to, as is the case with sorbitol and some species of bacteria, the resulting products are not lactic acid but carbon dioxide and other non-destructive substances.
So now onto foods...
However, as of now the most effective ways to destroy biofilm are by mechanical means: brushing, flossing, having your teeth cleaned by a dentist, and by using a WaterPik. I've had a WaterPik for 2 months now, recommended to me by my dentist because I hated to floss. I've only used it once because it's loud, awkward, and-as it turns out-even more obnoxious than regular flossing. Yet, as this video shows, it's highly effective at breaking through the biofilm barrier, which means I need to start pickin' with water again. Damn.
Sources to find information about biofilms are Wikipedia, The Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice, PLoS One, The Dental Tribune, Penn State, Montana State University, Colgate, The Dental Care of Stamford, WebMD, Buzzle.com, The California Dental Hygienists' Association, Advances in Dental Research Journal, The World's Healthiest Foods, Trident Oral Care, and Dentistry Today.
