universidade de são paulo - Faculdade de Odontologia - Unesp

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Introduction
The inability of current antifungal therapy to cure denture stomatitis
emphasizes the importance of treatment methods directed towards reducing initial
fungal attachment, since the prerequisite for colonization and, consequently,
occurrence of denture stomatitis is the adhesion of Candida albicans to oral
surfaces, including mucosa and denture surfaces 1-3 . Although the exact
mechanisms by which the adhesion of Candida to acrylic surfaces occurs are
unknown, many factors that affect Candida adherence have been described,
among them surface roughness, salivary pellicle, and hydrophobic and
electrostatic interactions. Surface roughness seems to favor microbial attachment
and difficult detachment, probably because it provides a larger surface area and/or
protection against shear forces 4 . The influence of salivary pellicle may be
regulated by specific interactions between the C. albicans cellular adhesins and
receptors in the pellicle 5 . Saliva may also alter the surface characteristics of the
substrates involved in the adhesion process, such as roughness and hydrophobicity
3,5,6 . With regard to hydrophobic interactions, a nearly linear relationship between
the number of Candida albicans adhering per unit area and the hydrophobicity of
polymers (determined by the contact angle) has been observed 7 . In addition, it
has been reported that the closer the surface free energy of the substrate surface
and the yeast, the higher was the probability of adherence 8 . Electrostatic
interaction has also been mentioned as a factor that can influence the adherence of
Candida to polymers 9,10 . Yeasts whose surfaces had been electrically altered