Fig 1.
Area of the bracket where the XPS analysis was performed (arrow).
Fig 2.
XPS wide scan spectrum for each specific surface: (A) metallic brackets, pre-treated with distilled water, and (B) HA discs, pre-treated with distilled water.
Table 1.
Percentage of atoms (%) of on the surface of metallic brackets (MB) and hydroxyapatite discs (HA) incubated in distilled water (Mean ± S.D.).
Fig 3.
Venn diagram of acquired pellicle proteins identified in each study group and across groups.
MB: metallic bracket, HAD: HA discs.
Table 2.
Proteins identified in both groups, hydroxyapatite discs and metallic orthodontic bracket.
Fig 4.
Distribution of proteins identified in each study group according to their isoelectric points: (A) metallic brackets, and (B) hydroxyapatite discs.
Table 3.
Proteins identified in the pellicle formed on metallic brackets and on hydroxyapatite discs categorized by biological function related to dental caries.