Denture Debris

Every surface in the oral cavity, natural or synthetic, becomes covered within about 30 minutes with a 0.5-1.5 µ-thick precipitate of salivary glycoprotein and immunoglobulin that is termed "pellicle."^7,8,9  The pellicle in turn provides a substrate to which oral debris (such as mucin, food particles and desquamated epithelial cells) and microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) readily adhere.  Certain adherent bacteria and fungi convert materials such as sucrose and glucose in the oral environment into a protective plaque covering under which they can thrive and proliferate further.¹⁰  This process is favored when salivary flow is impaired by disease or, more commonly, as a side effect of medications.  In the absence of an adequate amount of saliva, less antimicrobial action will be available to counter the activity and proliferation of microorganisms.¹¹

Adherence of microorganisms and debris is also favored by rough or otherwise irregular surface topography.  Surface irregularities provide an increase in surface area and an expansion in the number of niches not readily cleansed by actions of the tongue or other orofacial musculature.  This is a particular concern in the case of oral appliances fabricated out of methacrylate resin.  Despite an outwardly smooth appearance, these appliances have a pockmarked surface when viewed under microscopic magnification.¹²  This is due to bubble formation from unpolymerized monomer in the course of denture processing.  Increased tendency for undesirable deposits is similarly observed when a chemically polymerized and rather porous chair side reline material has been applied to a denture surface.  This occurs to a greater degree with over-the-counter, insoluble home reliner materials that are even more porous and generally far less smooth than processed and polished acrylic resin.

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