THE ADHERENCE OF PERIODONTOPATHOGENS TO PERIODONTAL PROBES - A POSSIBLE FACTOR IN INTRAORAL TRANSMISSION

PERIODONTAL PROBES HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN SHOWN to harbor several bacter ial types or species after probing periodontally diseased pockets. Thi s study aims to identify and quantify periodontopathogens that may adh ere to a periodontal probe by culturing techniques. It also examines t he probe's roughness on its capability to collect bacteria, comparing Merrit-B probes (with deep indentations) with TPS probes (with smooth surfaces). From the differential phase contrast microscopy findings it was seen that, while paper-points harbored nearly 50% motile rods or spirochetes, the periodontal probes were just at, or below, the 20% th reshold level for pathogenicity (23.6% for the Merrit-B probe and 11.3 % for the TPS probe). The cultural data showed that paper-points had s ignificantly higher (P < 0.05) numbers of anaerobic bacteria than the 2 probe types, which still harbored up to 10(7) CFU. No significant di fferences could be detected between the probes. When specific periodon topathic species were considered, it was seen that for all species, ev en for Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans or Porphyromonas gingivali s, the detection frequency was comparable for the 3 sampling devices. However, the levels of Prevotella intermedia and Campylobacter rectus was significantly higher in samples from paper-points (P < 0.05), but still their numbers reached even 10(5) on the probes. Differences amon g the 2 probe types were again negligible. Periodontal probes harbor r elatively high numbers of bacteria found in periodontal pockets and ma y be able to carry them over to other sites. Further studies are neede d to determine if, and to what extent, transmission occurs during peri odontal probing.