title: Composition of the oral streptococcal flora in healthy children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the predominant streptococcal species in the mouths of healthy children and to investigate the composition of the oral streptococcal flora over a period of 4 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 33 fit, healthy schoolchildren aged between 5 and 16 years. These children were part of a large study and were the matched controls for a group of subjects undergoing bone marrow transplantation. The oral flora was sampled using an oral rinse technique on two separate occasions 4 months apart. The outcome measures were the number of each streptococcal species per millilitre of oral rinse; the isolation frequency of each species; the proportion of each species as a percentage of both the total streptococcal count and the total anaerobic count.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The predominant species were Streptococcus salivarius, S. oralis and S. mitis. There was no significant variation in the composition of the oral streptococcal flora over the 4 month period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The oral rinse technique provides a reliable method of sampling the streptococcal flora of children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Eastman Dental Institute, University of London, UK. v.lucas@eastman.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beighton
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004245:DMF Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013997:Time Factors