Figure 4.

SEM micrographs of plaque microcosm biofilms: (A,B) lower magnification and (C,D) higher magnification. In (A), the composite control was covered with dense biofilms consisting of numerous long strings (arrows). In (B), Quaternary ammonium dimetacrylate associated to nanoparticles of amorphous calcium phosphate (NACP-QADM) nanocomposites had thinner biofilms with numerous pores “P”, without long strings. In (C), the long strings were made of bacterial cells connected with each other, and the cells had a normal, healthy short-rod morphology. However, as shown in (D), many cells on NACP-QADM nanocomposites had dissolved into pieces, while other cells still had a normal short-rod shape (long arrows indicate cell disintegration, and short arrows indicate normal healthy cells). Adapted with permission from [29], copyright Elsevier 2013.