MICROSCOPIC SPIROCHETE COUNTS IN UNTREATED SUBJECTS WITH AND WITHOUT PERIODONTAL TISSUE DESTRUCTION

The purpose of the study was to determine microscopically the %s of sp irochetes at sites without periodontal destruction in subjects with de structive periodontal diseases (cases) and in subjects free of it (con trols), who had not received professional prophylaxis. From a sample o f 164 individuals aged between 30-44 years living in rural and urban a reas of Tanzania, cases and controls were selected. Cases (n=25) were selected who exihibited at least 3 teeth with pocket depth of >5 mm. T he controls (n=28) had no pockets deeper than 3 mm. From each subject, 1 subgingival plaque sample was taken at the mid point of the lingual surface of I of the upper premolars which showed bleeding on probing but no calculus and no pockets. In addition, one subgingival sample wa s obtained from a pocket. Pockets contained the highest %s of spiroche tes, which confirms earlier findings. A significant difference in % of spirochetes between cases and controls was found at non-destructive s ites, indicating a host effect on the subgingival microflora. However, the spirochete counts at non-destructive sites did not provide a reli able measure to identify subjects with destructive periodontal disease .