Cell viability within oral biofilms

Bacteria are not distributed homogenously throughout an oral biofilm. This is primarily due to regions of differing environmental conditions, themselves a manifestation of nutrient, gaseous and ionic concentration gradients within the biofilm. Confocal laser scanning microscopy in conjunction with fluorescent staining techniques and image analysis can both visualise and quantify the distribution of viable and nonviable bacteria within the three-dimensional volume of the biofilm