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J. Clin. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/JCM.02051-07
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

An etiological study analyzing initial colonization of periodontal pathogens in oral cavity

Department of Dentistry, University of Taubate, Taubaté - SP, Brazil; Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte - MG, Brazil; and Department of Immunology, The Forsyth Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: jrcortelli{at}uol.com.br.

	Abstract

It is unclear when the initial colonization of periodontal pathogens occurs in the oral cavity. Therefore, we report here the association between specific age groups and the time when the initial colonization of periodontal pathogens occurs in the oral cavity in such groups. Findings are based on an epidemiological analysis of the prevalence of five periodontal pathogens in the oral cavities of a wide range of age populations, from newborn to elderly, who were randomly selected in a geometrical region of Brazil. These periodontal pathogens include Campylobacter rectus, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia and Tannerella forsythia and were analyzed in the bacterial samples isolated from gingival sulcus, dorsum of tongue and cheek mucosa of diverse age groups, using a bacterial-DNA specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Results indicated that there are distinct age-related groups where initial colonization of the five periodontal pathogens examined in this study can be detected and that the presence of teeth is a permissive factor for the colonization of P. gingivalis, P. intermedia and T. forsythia. Although it remains unclear exactly how or when target pathogens colonize in healthy subjects, an understanding of age-related groups does provide a potentially useful tool in the early detection and prevention of peridontitis in healthy individuals.