Yeasts in periodontal pockets

Objectives: The presence of yeasts in periodontal pockets has been describe d in a few studies. The association between yeasts and putative periodontal pathogens is not well described. This study aims at assessing the prevalen ce of yeasts in periodontal pockets and possible associations with the clin ical conditions of the sampled sites and other micro-organisms present. Material and methods: 2 subject groups form the basis for this study. The I st comprises results from microbiological samples from periodontal pockets of 128 subjects. The 2nd originates from 126 periodontal patients with untr eated pockets. Microbiological identification was performed after cultivati on on blood and Sabouraud agar plates, and "checkerboard" DNA-DNA hybridisa tion. Results: The prevalence of subjects with yeasts in the pockets was 15.6% an d 17.5% in the 2 groups respectively and was inconsistent according to gend er. No correlation was found between age and the presence of yeasts. Eubact erium saburreum was weakly correlated with presence of yeasts (r=0.194 p=0. 03). Yeasts were rarely found in both samples from the same individual. Conclusions: Our results indicate that yeasts can be expected to be present in periodontal pockets in one out of 6 periodontal patients independent of gender and age. Eubacterium saburreum seems to occur frequently together w ith yeasts.