Table 1.
The thickness, penetration ratio, total stress relaxation and the relative importance of the three Maxwell elements of in vivo and in vitro formed oral biofilms.1.
Figure 1.
Measurement and Maxwell model of the viscoelasticity of biofilms.
(A) Stress versus time diagram for relaxation of a compressed biofilm. (B) Schematic of a three element Maxwell model: Ei represent the spring constants and τi the relaxation time constants, which are equal to ηi/Ei.
Figure 2.
Penetration of chlorhexidine and stress relaxation of differently grown biofilms in vitro.
(A) The schematics of parallel plate flow chamber and constant depth film fermenter. (B) Penetration ratio of chlorhexidine as a function of relaxation of different biofilms for 10%, 20% and 50% induced deformation. Dashed lines indicate 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 3.
Chlorhexidine penetration and Maxwell analyses of in vitro grown biofilms.
Penetration ratio as a function of the relative importance of the three Maxwell elements E1, E2 and E3, denoting the fast, intermediate and slow relaxation components, respectively for different biofilms after 10%, 20% and 50% induced deformation. All data points refer to single experiments, while symbols are explained in Fig. 2. Dashed lines represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 4.
Stress relaxation properties of intra-orally grown oral biofilms.
The in vivo biofilms were obtained in five volunteers as indicated by different colors in comparison with the average relaxation properties of different single-species biofilms formed in a PPFC and CDFF, falling within the black rectangles.
Figure 5.
Chlorhexidine penetration and Maxwell analyses of intra-orally grown biofilms.
Penetration ratio of chlorhexidine as a function of the relative importance of the fast, intermediate and slow Maxwell elements E1, E2 and E3 for in vivo biofilms formed in different volunteers after 10%, 20% and 50% induced deformation. All data points refer to single experiments in one volunteer. Different volunteers are indicated by the same color codes as used in Fig. 4. Dashed lines represent 95% confidence intervals.