Microbiological Diagnosis of the Severe Chronic Periodontitis

In total, 14 adult patients with severe chronic periodontitis were evaluated for the presence of associated anaerobic and aerobic bacteria. Subgingival plaque specimens from three pocket depths per patient were obtained. Microaerophilic and facultative anaerobic bacteria, probably involved in the periodontitis, were isolated in six (42.9%) patients. These were Gram negative species involving Aggregatibacter (Haemophilus) aphrophilus (14.3%), Haemophilus parainfluenzae (7.1%), Kingella denitrificans (7.1%) and Moraxella osloensis (7.1%) as well as Gram-positive species, including Arcanobacterium (Actinomyces) pyogenes (7.1%) and Rhodococcus equi (7.1%). Anaerobic microbiology was completed for 12 patients. Of them, suspected periodontopathogens were isolated in seven (58.3%) patients and comprised Prevotella intermedia (in 41.7% of the patients) and Porphyromonas gingivalis (25%) as well as Porphyromonas endodontalis (8.3%). Tannerella forsythia was detected by PCR in half of the 12 cases. In conclusion, the presence of periodontopathogens as well as other bacterial species of possible importance should be considered in the patients with severe chronic periodontitis.