Microbiological Response to Periodontal Therapy: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Periodontitis is a multifactorial infection caused by a complex of pathogenic bacterial species that induce the destruction of periodontal structures.Objective:The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence and bacterial load of six periodontal pathogens bacteria, measured at initial visit and after osseous surgery in patients affected by chronic periodontitis and treated between 2005 and 2007.Methods:This cohort study was carried out on a sample of 38 consecutive patients affected by severe chronic periodontitis, diagnosed at baseline on the basis of probing depths equal to 6.68 ± 1.47 mm. On each subject, a microbiological test was performed before periodontal initial therapy and after osseous surgery (one year later). Five compromised teeth were chosen for each patient (the same teeth, before and after surgery), for a total of 190 teeth. Real-time PCR based analysis computed total bacterial load of the samples and quantified six periodontal pathogens: Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Treponema denticola, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Prevotella intermedia. Data collection was made consulting medical charts.Results:Pocket probing depth reduction after surgery was 4.50 ± 1.54 mm (p=0.0001). The mean number of sites with bleeding at baseline was 2.08 ± 1.17 and 0.58 ± 1.00 after surgery (p=0.001). The mean number of sites with suppuration at baseline was 0.26 ± 0.86 and 0 after surgery (p=0.02). Cell count of each pathogen and total cell count were significantly higher at baseline than after surgery. Almost all bacteria presented a mean percentage reduction equal to that of the total count, except for Aa and Pi, which seemed to show a greater resistance. The difference of bacterial load, both before and after surgery, between smokers and non-smokers was not statistically significant (p<0.05). A statistically significant correlation was detected between pocket probing depth variation and bleeding on probing variation before and after the surgery, controlling for age (r=0.6, p=0.001). No significant correlations were observed between pocket probing depth and bacterial loads, except for Pg (r=0.5, p=0.001), Tf (r=0.6, p=0.001) and Td (r=0.4, p=0.02).Conclusions:Reduction of presence and bacterial load of the examined periodontal pathogens bacteria after osseous surgery, along with periodontal pocket reduction, appeared to be essential to achieve and maintain periodontal stability over years.

Periodontal pathogenic bacteria among high school children in Saudi Arabia

“…29–32 P gingivalis showed the highest load while A actinomycetemcomitans had the lowest load in an adult Italian population. 33 T forsythia (previously Bacteroides forsythus ) is another gram negative non-motile rod which is found in periodontal sites with active destruction as well as with disease recurrence. 34…”

Personalized antibiotic selection in periodontal treatment improves clinical and microbiological outputs

“…Biofilms are defined as bacterial communities composed of single or various bacterial species attached to each other on biotic/abiotic surfaces and encased in a self-secreted extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) ( Seneviratne et al., 2008 ; Lu et al., 2019 ). For instance, oral biofilms such as dental plaque are composed of several hundred species firmly attached to the teeth above (supragingival dental plaque) or below the gum line (subgingival dental plaque) ( Kuboniwa and Lamont, 2010 ; Checchi and Pascolo, 2018 ; Lamont et al., 2018 ). Oral biofilms are strongly associated with the occurrence and the progression of oral diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis, periodontitis and halitosis ( Rosier et al., 2018 ; Johnston et al., 2021 ).…”

Management of Gingival Bleeding in Periodontal Patients with Domiciliary Use of Toothpastes Containing Hyaluronic Acid, Lactoferrin, or Paraprobiotics: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

“…Periodontal disease is a degenerative, multifactorial, and irreversible inflammatory condition that regards tooth-supporting tissues [1,2]. Considering the multifactorial etiology, biofilm accumulation does not represent the only factor related to periodontitis, despite its main role; in fact, other risk conditions are represented by smoke, leukocyte deficits, immunosuppression, diabetes, and alteration of cytokines production [3].…”

“…Considering the multifactorial etiology, biofilm accumulation does not represent the only factor related to periodontitis, despite its main role; in fact, other risk conditions are represented by smoke, leukocyte deficits, immunosuppression, diabetes, and alteration of cytokines production [3]. Despite this, interventions aimed at removing dental plaque have the most important role [2]. Specifically, scaling and root planing (SRP) is the non-surgical gold standard therapy that respectively consists of the elimination of dental plaque/calculus and in smoothing contaminated dental roots [4].…”