The composition of the dental pellicle: an updated literature review

Frontiers in Oral Health

Oral Health

Bennett T. Amaechi¹  Bernhard Ganss²  Frederic Meyer³  Joachim Enax³  Erik Schulze zur Wiesche³ 

[1] Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States;Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;Research Department, Dr. Kurt Wolff GmbH & Co. KG, Germany;

关键词: dental pellicle;    proteins;    saliva;    biofilm;    teeth;    hydroxyapatite;   

DOI  :  10.3389/froh.2023.1260442

 received in 2023-07-26, accepted in 2023-09-26,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe dental pellicle is a thin layer of up to several hundred nm in thickness, covering the tooth surface. It is known to protect the teeth from acid attacks through its selective permeability and it is involved in the remineralization process of the teeth. It functions also as binding site and source of nutrients for bacteria and conditioning biofilm (foundation) for dental plaque formation.MethodsFor this updated literature review, the PubMed database was searched for the dental pellicle and its composition.ResultsThe dental pellicle has been analyzed in the past years with various state-of-the art analytic techniques such as high-resolution microscopic techniques (e.g., scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy), spectrophotometry, mass spectrometry, affinity chromatography, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and blotting-techniques (e.g., western blot). It consists of several different amino acids, proteins, and proteolytic protein fragments. Some studies also investigated other compounds of the pellicle, mainly fatty acids, and carbohydrates.ConclusionsThe dental pellicle is composed mainly of different proteins, but also fatty acids, and carbohydrates. Analysis with state-of-the-art analytical techniques have uncovered mainly acidic proline-rich proteins, amylase, cystatin, immunoglobulins, lysozyme, and mucins as main proteins of the dental pellicle. The pellicle has protective properties for the teeth. Further research is necessary to gain more knowledge about the role of the pellicle in the tooth remineralization process.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© 2023 Enax, Ganss, Amaechi, Schulze zur Wiesche and Meyer.