PREVALENCE OF PORPHYROMONAS-GINGIVALIS AND PERIODONTAL HEALTH-STATUS

Periodontitis is a common, progressive disease that eventually affects the majority of the population. The local destruction of periodontiti s is believed to result from a bacterial infection of the gingival sul cus, and several clinical studies have provided evidence to implicate Porphyromonas gingivalis, If P, gingivalis is a periodontal pathogen, it would be expected to be present in most subjects with disease and r arely detected in subjects with good periodontal health, However, in m ost previous studies, P, gingivalis has not been detected in the major ity of subjects with disease, and age-matched, periodontally healthy c ontrols were not included for comparison, The purpose of the study rep orted here aas to compare the prevalence of P, gingivalis in a group w ith periodontitis to that of a group that is periodontally healthy, A comprehensive sampling strategy and a sensitive PCR assay were used to maximize the likelihood of detection. The target sequence for P, ging ivalis-specific amplification was the transcribed spacer region within the ribosomal operon, P. gingivalis was detected in only 25% (46 of 1 81) of the healthy subjects but was detected in 79% (103 of 130) of th e periodontitis group (P < 0.0001). The odds ratio for being infected with P. gingivalis was 11.2 times greater in the periodontitis group t han in the healthy group (95% confidence interval, 6.5 to 19.2), These data implicate P, gingivalis in the pathogenesis of periodontitis and suggest that P. gingivalis may not be a normal inhabitant of a period ontally healthy dentition.