The Effect of Essential Oils and Bioactive Fractions on Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans Biofilms: A Confocal Analysis

Figure 2

3D confocal imaging: a quantitative analysis. 3D reconstruction of confocal image stacks of 72-h S. mutans UA 159 biofilms following topical treatment with A. gratissima: fraction Ag₄; B. dracunculifolia: fraction Bd₂; C. sativum: fraction Cs₄; L. sidoides: fraction Ls₃; and vehicle (propylene glycol, 6.25% v/v). The structures depicted in red (Dextran, Alexa Fluor 6) represent the extracellular polysaccharides that constitute the biofilm matrix, while the structures depicted in green (Syto 9) are metabolically active bacterial cells (optical magnitude 63x). The mean (±SD) of biofilm thickness in each group is indicated below the orthogonal images. There were no statistically significant differences in thickness between the groups and the vehicle (, One-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s posttest). Our coverage (EPS/bacteria) data demonstrate that in all groups the exopolysaccharide matrix was found interspersed between the bacterial cells. Coverage percent represents the percentage of area occupied by bacteria or EPS in each of the CLSM optical section [30].