Detection of periodontal pathogens in newborns and children with mixed dentition

Abstract

We report the age-related prevalence of red complex periodontal pathogens, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, and Tannerella forsythia, along with four strains of orange complex pathogens. The bacteria present in samples isolated from tongue, cheek, and subgingival sulcus in edentulous newborns and children with mixed dentition were monitored by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). P. gingivalis was not detected in any site of any subject in the two groups tested. However, T. denticola was not only found in the 6-13 years age group, but also in edentulous newborns at a relatively high prevalence, indicating non-dentition-related colonization by T. denticola. Campylobacter rectus, Prevotella intermedia, T. forsythia, Eikenella corrodens, and Parvimonas micra were found in the oral cavity of most subjects belonging to the 6-13 years age group compared to newborns. This suggested a pronounced association between these colonizing bacteria and the presence of teeth. There was also a strong relation between T. denticola and T. forsythia for their prevalence in the subgingival sulcus of the 6-13 years age group (p < 0.0001), but not in the other sites tested, suggesting that the colonization of dentition-related T. forsythia may be associated with the increased prevalence of non-dentition-related T. denticola in the subgingival sulcus. Overall, these results suggest that dentition is a key determinant of bacterial colonization, especially orange complex bacteria and the red complex bacterium T. forsythia.