title: Microbial profiles of patients seeking treatment for periodontitis. Influence of origin, smoking and age?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We assessed the potential influence of the origin, the smoking status and the age on subgingival microbial profiles of subjects seeking periodontal care in Switzerland today.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subgingival samples were obtained from 182 subjects originating from 44 countries (56 native Swiss, 64 other European, 43 African, 19 others), seeking periodontal treatment at the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Geneva. Four periodontal microorganisms were quantified by direct hybridization with specific RNA probes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tannerella forsythia and Treponema denticola were ubiquitous (95.6%, 93.9%), and Porphyromonas gingivalis was frequently detected (89%). Counts correlated with the size of the microbial sample (total load). Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans was detected in only 70 (38.4%) subjects. Counts were highly variable and unrelated to total load. Subjects less than 46.8 years old (median age) had a higher risk to be positive than older subjects. Detection frequencies and counts of all four organisms were unrelated to the origin or the smoking status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on a clinical diagnosis of untreated periodontitis, positive outcomes of tests for T. forsythia, T. denticola and P. gingivalis could be predicted with high confidence irrespective of a patient;'s origin, smoking status or age. Detection of A. actinomycetemcomitans was less frequent and depended on the age of the subject.
authors.affiliation: Division de Physiopathologie buccale et Parodontie Section de Médecine dentaire, Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland. fabien.decaillet@unige.ch
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Décaillet
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giannopoulou
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cionca
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Almaghlouth
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mombelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D016976:Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D044383:Black People; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058889:Molecular Typing; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D016966:Porphyromonas gingivalis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012907:Smoking; D013557:Switzerland; D048373:Treponema denticola / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial