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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 2004, p. 4141-4146, Vol. 42, No. 9
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.9.4141-4146.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Prevalence of Periodontal Pathogens in Dental Plaque of Children

Division of Microbial Diseases,¹ Biostatistics Unit, Eastman Dental Institute, UCL, London, United Kingdom²

Received 19 January 2004/ Returned for modification 3 May 2004/ Accepted 14 May 2004

Porphyromonas gingivalis, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, and Tannerella forsythensis have been implicated as the main etiological agents of periodontal disease. The purpose of this work was to estimate the prevalence of these organisms in plaque from children without gingivitis (group 1; n = 65) and from those with gingivitis (group 2; n = 53). Extracted DNA from plaque was subjected to two rounds of PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene using both universal primers and species-specific primers. The results were as follows: group 1, P. gingivalis, 49%; A. actinomycetemcomitans, 55%; and T. forsythensis, 65%; group 2, P. gingivalis, 47%; A. actinomycetemcomitans, 59%; and T. forsythensis, 45%. T. forsythensis was detected more frequently in children with no gingivitis than in those with gingivitis (P = 0.03). There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to the presence of P. gingivalis or A. actinomycetemcomitans in either group (P > 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of a patient having gingivitis were 2.3 times greater in the absence of T. forsythensis. In conclusion, the results of this study have shown that the three pathogens can be detected in the dental plaque of healthy children and of those with gingivitis and that T. forsythensis is associated with dental plaque at sites with no gingivitis.

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