Presence of microorganisms on the fitting denture complete surface: study 'in vivo'.

It was the intention to study if glazing the fitting surface of maxillary dentures with a light-curing acrylic resin would diminish the bacterial counts. The study included the application of a photopolymerizing glaze to one half of the fitting denture surface; after 15 days microbial plaque was collected from a 1 cm2 area of the glazed and the untreated resin, respectively. At the same time bacteria were collected from a 1 cm2 area of the corresponding sites on the palatal mucosa. The application of the glaze had modified the number of bacteria cultured from the glazed surface versus the untreated surface. Denture surface: total aerobic bacteria, 1:4; aerobic streptococci, 1:4; aerobic staphylococci, 1:5; anaerobic bacteria, 1:3.5; mucosal surface aerobic bacteria, 1:4; streptococcal, 1:4. The differences were statistically significant at P<0.002. However, from a quantitative and qualitative point of view these differences were minor compared with the actual concentrations of the microorganisms of 104-106/cm2 observed on the fitting denture surface and the palatal mucosa.