Bacterial Arrangement on the Teeth
- Dental plaque is a coating of bacteria on the teeth. It contributes to poor dental health and diseases such as gingivitis, cavities and periodontal disease. Researchers who study plaque know that many different types of oral bacteria stick to each other in test-tube experiments. However, it is not clear if these interactions occur in natural dental plaque. By studying how bacteria interact, researchers can better understand how bacteria come together and grow to form plaque.
- To look at how bacteria interact with one another to form dental plaque.
- Healthy nonsmoking volunteers at least 18 years of age.
- Participants will be screened with a medical history and dental exam. They will also have dental impressions taken for a stent (a device similar to Invisalign(SqrRoot) braces).
- Participants will wear the stent for up to 8 hours a day on selected study visit days. It will contain enamel chips made from sterilized human teeth. The mouth bacteria will stick to the chips and grow. Chips will be taken out of the stent twice during these study visit days.
- Participants will have other study visits to provide saliva and plaque samples. They will also have gum swabs to collect bacteria.
- Some participants may have a second set of study visits. At these visits, they will chew gum to increase their saliva production. Afterwards, they will wear the stent with the enamel chips for 4 hours. Samples from the stent will be taken once on these study visit days.
|Dental Plaque Oral Health Periodontal Disease and Caries Periodontal Disease|
|Study Design:||Observational Model: Case-Only
Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:||Bacterial Arrangement in Supragingival Biofilms|
- Arrangement of Oral Microflora on Tooth Surfaces [ Time Frame: At 4 hours and 8 hours ]
- Effect of Chewing Gum on Arrangement and Type of Oral Microflora [ Time Frame: At 4 hours hours ]
- Molecular Analysis of Oral Microflora Composition [ Time Frame: At 4 hours hours ]
|Study Start Date:||October 9, 2012|
|Study Completion Date:||January 7, 2016|
|Primary Completion Date:||January 7, 2016 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)|
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01712672
|United States, Maryland|
|National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike|
|Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892|
|Principal Investigator:||Niki M Moutsopoulos, D.D.S.||National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)|