Effect on a cariogenic challenge of saliva/plaque exchange via a thin salivary film studied by mathematical modelling.

Computer models can be powerful tools for studying complex interacting processes. The computer model of events in dental plaque during a cariogenic challenge described here simulates diffusion and metabolism of substrate, plus coupled diffusion/reaction of fourteen other species, charged and uncharged, including acidic metabolic products and fixed buffers. Its extension to deal with the effects of poor contact with bulk saliva when the plaque is presumed covered by a thin salivary film is here considered. Site-specific mixing rates between film and salivary pool were modelled phenomenologically, using data from the literature. Fast mixing was assumed during an initial carbohydrate intake phase (2 min sugar rinse), followed by site-dependent mixing and logarithmic clearance. The analysis also suggested a possible way of estimating local salivary film thickness. Increasing the halving time for exchange between film and bulk saliva was shown to prolong the pH minimum greatly, and to increase mineral loss. The respective roles of fixed buffers as stores of protons and of mobile buffers (especially bicarbonate) as exporters of protons from the inner plaque were emphasised.