Competitive binding among oral strptococci to hydroxyapatite.

The relative affinity of various oral streptococci for hydroxyapatite (HA) differed widely. Streptococcus mutans affinity for dextran-coated HA was the highest of all the streptococci to any HA coating. S salivarius had the lowest affinity, and S sanguis affnity was higher then S miteor for saliva-coated HA. Competition for binding sites on saliva-dextran-coated, dextran-coated HA. Hhwever, competition between this pair was not for the same binding site but for closely associated sites.