A radiochemical assay for glycolytic activity in dental plaque

Abstract

A radiochemical technique for the rapid and precise measurement of glucose utilization of fresh samples of dental plaque is described. The method appears to be a sensitive indicator of the actual glycolytic ability of an organized microbial plaque including activity in the Embden‐Meyerhof pathway as well as heterolactic fermentation and the Entner‐Doudoroff pathway. It was found that the glycolytic rate of plaque associated with periodontal pockets was significantly higher than that for plaque not so associated.