Subgingival/Submucosal microbiota in subjects with healthy and inflamed peri-implant tissues

Abstract

Objective: To compare the prevalence and levels of putative ‘periodontal pathogens’ present in the subgingival/submucosal microbiota surrounding teeth or implants in subjects with differing periodontal/peri-implant health statuses. Method: 22 subjects were included in the study. Within each subject, 4 sites were selected for sampling: (1) healthy implant, (2) diseased implant [PPD≥5mm, presence of bleeding on probing (BOP) and radiographic bone loss], (3) healthy tooth and (4) periodontally-diseased tooth (presence of BOP, PPD≥4mm). Subgingival/submucosal plaque was sampled using paper points. After DNA extraction, quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR) was used to detect and quantify six bacterial species: Treponema denticola, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Staphylococcus aureus. The absolute counts were log10-transformed before statistical analysis. Result: The most commonly-detected species were F. nucleatum (n=85 sites), T. denticola (n=84 sites) and S. aureus (n=82 sites); while P. gingivalis had the lowest detection frequency (n=61 sites). The detection frequencies of target species was generally higher in diseased compared to healthy sites with no statistically significant differences for any particular species (p>0.05, Cochran's Q test). Regarding bacterial loads, no significant differences were found among groups except for F. nucleatum (p=0.023, Friedman 2-way ANOVA). Subgingival/submucosal plaque from diseased teeth harbored significantly more F. nucleatum than healthy implants. Both periodontal and peri-implant sites, independent of health status, were found to harbor S.aureus. The loads (log10) of S.aureus were ca. 3.5 for all the 4 groups (p=0.232), which was the highest of all the species detected. Conclusion: Our results indicate that putative periodontal pathogens are common to both periodontal and peri-implant sites independent of the health status, which may explain the high risk of peri-implantitis in patients with untreated periodontal diseases. S. aureus is commonly present in the subgingival/submucosal microbiota surrounding both teeth and implants. Abstract Disclosures: This abstract is based on research that was funded entirely or partially by an outside source: the Clinical Research Foundation (CRF) for the Promotion of Oral Health, Brienz, Switzerland and the Swiss Society of Odontostomatology (SSO)