RESUMO
The understanding and capability to simulate reproducible in vitro plaque model are important where this artificialplaque can be utilized as a tool in assessing the efficacy of tooth cleaning products. Previous studies were done onsynthetic surfaces such as glass beads under a very strict, controlled environment. Thus, the aim of this study wasto establish a simplified system to enable the formation of single species biofilm on the extracted natural tooth asplaque model. Healthy extracted natural tooth was incubated in broth mixture of Streptococcus mutans, containing5% sucrose and stimulated saliva in a simplified system. The incubation was set at room temperature for 24, 48,and 72 hours. After 24 hours, the sticky deposit was formed on the surface of the tooth. The area of biofilm, stainedwith disclosing agent, expended from 19.05 ± 1.41 mm2 (24 hours) to 23.25 ± 0.35 mm2 (48 hours). However,no significant expansion of the plaque area was observed on 72 hours (23.83 ± 0.52 mm2). The biofilm was thenobserved under Infinite Focus Microscope (IFM) to measure the biofilm thickness. The preliminary attempt showedthat plaque appeared as dark deposit with a certain thickness. Therefore, this simplified system is a reliable methodfor producing artificial plaque.