Calcium-phosphate-osteopontin particles for caries control

Abstract

Caries is caused by acid production in biofilms on dental surfaces. Preventing caries therefore involves control of microorganisms and/or the acid produced. Here, calcium-phosphate-osteopontin particles are presented as a new approach to caries control. The particles are made by co-precipitation and designed to bind to bacteria in biofilms, impede biofilm build-up without killing the microflora, and release phosphate ions to buffer bacterial acid production if the pH decreases below 6. Analysis of biofilm formation and pH in a five-species biofilm model for dental caries showed that treatment with particles or pure osteopontin led to less biofilm formation compared to untreated controls or biofilms treated with osteopontin-free particles. The anti-biofilm effect can thus be ascribed to osteopontin. The particles also led to a slower acidification of the biofilm after exposure to glucose, and the pH always remained above 5.5. Hence, calcium-phosphate-osteopontin particles show potential for applications in caries control.

Keywords:

• Biofilms
• calcium
• dental caries
• osteopontin
• phosphorus

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Javier E. Garcia and Merete K. Raarup for technical assistance and Michael Væth for statistical support.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Danish Advanced Technology Foundation platform ProSURF under grant number 016-2006-2. HB was supported by the Danish Research Council for Independent Research, Technology and Production Sciences under grant number 0602-02426B. RLM was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation under grant number 2009-01-0270 and the Lundbeck Foundation under grant number R44-A4427.