title: The limited value of three pathogen species in predicting healing of periodontal pockets.
abstract: Baseline level of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans has been suggested as being predictive of periodontal treatment outcome. We analyzed the presence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Prevotella intermedia in 55 deep periodontal pockets of 29 patients (18 men, 11 women, 37-75 years) before and after periodontal treatment. At baseline and after treatment, 62% and 33%, respectively, of the subjects presented with 1, 2, or a combination of all 3 pathogens. The mean pocket depth of 6.6 mm (0.4 mm) before treatment decreased to 2.2 mm (0.4 mm) in response to treatment (P<0.001). The treatment plan of non-surgical or surgical treatment was based on pocket depths and tooth morphology only. No antimicrobial medications were used during the treatment. Eighty-two percent of the deep pockets healed satisfactorily to < or = 4 mm. The presence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, or Prevotella intermedia at baseline was not associated with the outcome of the periodontal therapy. In conclusion, we found that the presence of the 3 periodontopathogen species had little or no value in predicting healing of periodontal pockets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, Finland. liisi.sewón@utu.fi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sewón
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karjalainen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Söderling
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hyyppä
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Luukkala-Wardi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mäkelä
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Paunio
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Varrela
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016976:Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D012534:Dental Scaling; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016966:Porphyromonas gingivalis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018713:Prevotella intermedia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011379:Prognosis