Dental plaque adhesion

There are many other processes where adhesion of partides to surfaces is undesirable, e.g. in detergency, non-stick surfaces, adhesion of bacteria to tooth surface (dental plaque), adhesion of cells to blood vessels (which can cause thrombosis), etc. 

A freshly cleaned tooth surface quickly becomes coated with a thin pellicle of salivary proteins. This provides a surface for growth of dental plaque, which contains many bacteria and adhesive polysaccharides such as dextrans.1 The latter are generated from dietary sucrose by such bacteria as Streptococcus mutans. (Chapter 20) and others.131 Many factors affect the probability of tooth decay. 

Baler, R.E., "Adhesion to Different Types of Biosurfaces," in Dental Plaque and Surface Interactions in the Oral Cavity (S.A. Leach, ed.). Information Retrieval Inc., Arlington,... 

One of the most important problems of cell adhesion is dental plaque, which is formed when bacteria such as streptococcus mutans and streptococcus sanguis adhere to tooth surfaces, causing decay (caries) and gum disease (gingivitis). Dental plaque can be removed by brushing or prevented by chemical additives, such as chlorhexidine, which kill the bacteria. Study of dental plaque is normally done on hydroxy apatite which is the main component of dental enamel. 

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