Subgingival and Tongue Microbiota during Early Periodontitis

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Subgingival and Tongue Microbiota during Early Periodontitis
2006
A.C.R. Tanner1,*, B.J. Paster1, S.C. Lu1, E. Kanasi1, R. Kent, Jr.2, T. Van Dyke3, and S.T. Sonis4
Journal of Dental Research

© 2006 International and American Associations for Dental Research

1 Department of Molecular Genetics and
2 Department of Biostatistics, The Forsyth Institute, 140 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, USA;
3 Clinical Research Center at Boston University School of Dental Medicine; and
4 Division of Oral Medicine, Brigham and WomenÌs Hospital, Boston

* corresponding author, annetanner@forsyth.org

ABSTRACT

Periodontal infections have a microbial etiology. Association of species with early disease would be useful in determining which microbes initiate periodontitis. We hypothesized that the microbiota of subgingival and tongue samples would differ between early periodontitis and health. A cross-sectional evaluation of 141 healthy and early periodontitis adults was performed with the use of oligonucleotide probes and PCR. Most species differed in associations with sample sites; most subgingival species were associated with subgingival samples. Few species were detected more frequently in early periodontitis by DNA probes. Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia (Tannerella forsythensis) were associated with early periodontitis by direct PCR. In conclusion, the microbiota of tongue samples was less sensitive than that of subgingival samples in detecting periodontal species, and there was overlap in species detected in health and early periodontitis. Detection of periodontal pathogens in early periodontitis suggests an etiology similar to that of more advanced disease.


KEY WORDS: microbiology Ô tongue Ô subgingival Ô health Ô early periodontitis

INTRODUCTION

While periodontal diseases affect over half of the adults in the United States (Albandar et al., 1999), with appropriate interceptive treatment, periodontitis can be prevented. It has been difficult to identify those young adults who could develop periodontitis from those who remain periodontally healthy. Rather than universal prophylactic treatment, it would be preferable to identify and selectively treat individuals at high risk for disease before significant periodontal attachment loss occurs. Early periodontitis is detected clinically by loss of periodontal attachment, which, in younger adults, is strongly associated with gingivitis (Tanner et al., 2005). Gingivitis, with or without early attachment loss, however, cannot indicate which individuals will develop periodontitis. The primary etiology of periodontitis is the presence of specific bacteria in the subgingival plaque biofilm. Thus, it seems likely that identification of certain species could aid in the risk assessment for early periodontitis.

The composition of the subgingival microbiota of chronic periodontitis in adults has been described by culture (Moore and Moore, 1994; Tanner et al., 1998; van Winkelhoff et al., 2002), immunological (Riviere et al., 1996; Clerehugh et al., 1997; Machtei et al., 1999), and molecular methods (Socransky et al., 1998; Paster et al., 2001; Kumar et al., 2003; de Lillo et al., 2004). Culture analysis of subgingival plaque samples of early periodontitis detected Tannerella forsythia (Tannerella forsythensis), Campylobacter rectus, and Selenomonas noxia associated with progressing, compared with non-progressing, subjects, whereas Porphyromonas gingivalis was associated, by whole genomic DNA probes, with progressing periodontitis (Tanner et al., 1998). These species have also been associated with moderate and advanced periodontitis (Moore and Moore, 1994; Socransky et al., 1998). Molecular PCR cloning and sequencing methods have identified several species that are rarely or not detected by culture methods (Paster et al., 2001), some of which show strong associations with adult periodontitis (Kumar et al., 2003). Several periodontal species, including P. gingivalis and Prevotella melaninogenica, have been identified from tongue samples of adults (Van der Velden et al., 1986; Lee et al., 1999; Mager et al., 2003). The aims of this study were to compare the microbiota detected in subgingival and tongue samples and to evaluate associations between recognized species and uncultivated phylotypes with early periodontitis. Bacterial species that showed positive associations with early attachment loss could be of value in assessing periodontal risk, particularly if from easily obtained tongue samples.

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