Microbial adhesion to surface-grafted polyacrylamide brushes after long-term exposure to PBS and reconstituted freeze-dried saliva

Polyacrylamide (PAAm) brushes, covalently grafted from silicon wafer surfaces were examined for their ability to inhibit microbial adhesion after long‐term exposure to PBS or reconstituted freeze‐dried saliva for time intervals from 48 h up to 1 month at 37°C. Microbial adhesion after exposure was studied in a parallel plate flow chamber. Infrared spectra showed that PAAm brushes exhibit good chemical stability upon incubation in both PBS and reconstituted freeze‐dried saliva up to 1 month. Reductions in microbial adhesion on PAAm brushes after exposure to PBS or reconstituted freeze‐dried saliva varied from 63 to 93% depending on the microbial strain considered, even after 1 month of exposure of the brushes to reconstituted freeze‐dried saliva. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2010.