Ultrastructural development of dated plaque in case of denture stomatitis

Using special acrylic discs glued into the palatal surface of a denture the development of denture plaque in a case of denture stomatitis as well as the relationships between the denture surface, pellicle, plaque and palatal epithelium were studied with transmission electron microscopy after 30 mn, 1 h, 4 h, 8 h, 24 h, 48 h, 9 days and 29 days. A thin pellicle which increased in thickness from 9 hours to 28 days was visible at the surface of the acrylic denture. It appeared that bacteria retained in the palatal epithelial intercellular spaces were the source of the plaque which developed at the surface of the acrylic denture. Initially loosely packed cocci-like and a few rod-shaped Gram positive bacteria appeared in 8 hours samples at the denture-epithelium interface. An important increase in denture plaque thickness was noted between 24 and 48 hours. In 9 and 28 days samples, coccoid and rod-shaped Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were present and filamentous bacteria began to be apparent. In all the samples studied, Candida was rare.