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The effect of plaque control in subjects with shallow pockets and high prevalence of periodontal pathogens
Author(s) -
AlYahfoufi Zoubeida,
Mombelli Andrea,
Wicki Andreas,
Lang Niklaus P.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of clinical periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.456
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1600-051X
pISSN - 0303-6979
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-051x.1995.tb01774.x
Subject(s) - prevotella intermedia , actinobacillus , porphyromonas gingivalis , dentistry , oral hygiene , medicine , gingival and periodontal pocket , periodontitis , periodontal disease , bleeding on probing , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
In a previous study, it was shown that professional tooth cleaning 3X a week had a significant influence on the subgingival microbiota of shallow pockets. The purpose of this investigation was to study the effect of a single episode of full‐mouth supragingival cleaning and oral hygiene instructions in subjects with minimal periodontal disease but high prevalence of putative periodontal pathogens. 10 subjects from Arabic countries, aged between 22 and 48 years, which had previously not been exposed to any dental care other than extractions and fillings, were selected for this trial. DNA probe analysis of subgingival samples, taken in the deepest pocket of each quadrant, showed presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia in all patients, and presence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in 5 individuals. 85% of all samples were P. gingivalis‐positive , 83% were positive for P. intermedia and 43% were A. actinomycetemcomitans‐positive. 4 weeks after treatment, subgingival microbiological samples were again taken in the same sites. In 8 patients. P. gingivalis could still be detected after treatment. However, the number of P. gingivalis positive samples was reduced from 85% to 38%, and the bacterial counts in positive samples were markedly lower than at baseline. P. intermedia‐positive samples were obtained from 7 patients after treatment. 33% of all samples were still positive, but showed markedly reduced bacterial counts. 4 patients still yielded A. actinomycetem comitans ‐positive samples after treatment. Here, the number of positive samples was reduced to 15%, and the bacterial counts were barely exceeding the detection limit. Concomitantly, the % of pockets deeper than 3 mm was reduced from 13% to 3% and the percentage of sites bleeding upon probing was reduced from 68% to 20%. This study demonstrated a considerable, although not maximal clinical and microbiological effect of supragingival plaque control in subjects with high prevalence of periodontal pathogens but minimal periodontal disease.