Concentration of Antimicrobial Proteins in Human Saliva

Interaction of Zinc with Dental Mineral

“…Zinc, unlike other anticalculus agents is cationic rather than anionic and can potentially operate through both of the above mechanisms [Gilbert et al, 1989], It is retained by dental plaque [Gilbert and Ingram, 1988] and inhibits its regrowth [Harrap et al, 1983[Harrap et al, ,1984Saxton et al, 1986] without disrupting the oral ecology [Jones et al, 1988] or the host immune system [Page et al, 1990]. In addition to the antiplaque effect, however, in common with a number of polyvalent metal ions and metal-ion/organic-ligand complexes [Christoffersen et al, 1987;Meyer and Thomas, 1982], zinc adsorbs onto the surface of calcium phosphate phases, inhibiting hydroxyapatite (HAP) crystal growth Zn remaining in solution, mM [Legeros et al, 1980;Meyer and Angino, 1977;Bachra and van Harskamp, 1970;Bird and Thomas, 1963], Even rela tively young plaques contain amorphous calcium phos phate crystallites which subsequently convert to HAP via brushite [Kaufmann and Kleinberg, 1973;Driessens and Verbeeck, 1989], Similarly, Brudcvold et al [1963] found that zinc was adsorbed onto the surface of both HAP and human enamel, displacing calcium.…”

Interaction of Zinc with a Synthetic Calcium Phosphate Mineral

“…Toothpastes containing zinc citrate trihydratc are known to inhibit plaque growth [Saxton ct al., 1986] and calculus formation [Stephen et al, 1987] without having deleterious effects on the oral ecology [Jones et al, 1988] or on the oral immune system [Page et al, 1990]. Much work has been done on the uptake and retention o f zinc by dental plaque and saliva-coated enamel [Gilbert and Ingram, 1988;Saxton et al, 1986;Afseth ct al., 1983] and several studies have in vestigated the interaction of zinc with apatite [Brudevold et al, 1963;Misraand Bowen, 1981;Ingram et al, 1992].…”