Periodontal diseases, caries, and microbial composition of the subgingival plaque in children: A longitudinal study

The present study compares periodontal parameters, caries, and levels of colony forming units (CFU) of bacteria from subgingival plaque of permanent teeth, to those of primary teeth examined 4 years previously. Six children who had periodontitis and 5 who had no periodontitis in primary teeth (groups A and B respectively) were examined. The microbial examination included the number of CFU of the total anaerobic count, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Streptococcus mutons and Porphyromonas gingivalis. The differences in CFU values for the permanent teeth between groups A and B were not significant. Group A had significantly higher gingival inflammation values in the permanent teeth than group B. Permanent teeth had significantly higher CFU values of P. gingivalis than the primary teeth. Based on the present limited sample, the number of CFU from bacteria of the subgingival plaque of primary teeth are not an adequate predictor of periodontal disease or caries in the permanent teeth.