Cetylpyridinium chloride adsorption on the wettability and elemental surface composition of human enamel.

To determine the influence of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) adsorption on the wettability and elemental surface composition of human enamel, with and without adsorbed salivary constituents, surface-free energies and elemental compositions were determined. The surface-free energies were estimated from contact angle measurements; whereas the elemental compositions were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Surface-free energies of ground and polished enamel (88 +/- 8 mJ.m-2 and saliva-coated enamel (103 +/- 4) became similar (109-112) upon adsorption of CPC. Also, the N/C concentration ratios of the ground and polished enamel surface (0.06) and saliva-coated enamel (0.21) become equal upon CPC adsorption. The N/C concentration ratio after CPC adsorption (N/C = 0.04) corresponds with the value expected on basis of the molecular structure of CPC. The strongest evidence for adsorption of CPC to both ground and polished enamel and saliva-coated enamel is presented by the double nitrogen N1s peak. This double nitrogen1s peak is not observed for ground and polished enamel nor for enamel with a salivary coating on top of adsorbed CPC, which indicates that adsorbed CPC can be completely screened by salivary proteins. This study demonstrates that CPC has a definite capacity to adsorb both on ground and polished enamel as well as on pellicle-coated enamel.