THE PREVALENCE OF BETA-LACTAMASE PRODUCING BACTERIA IN SUBGINGIVAL PLAQUE AND THEIR SENSITIVITY TO AUGMENTIN

Subgingival plaque samples from 20 patients with chronic periodontitis who had received no antibiotics for at least 3 months were screened for the presence of β-lactamase-producing bacteria. Thirteen of the patients harboured β-lactamase producing bacteria, most of which were members of the genus Bacteroides. The most frequently isolated species were Bacteroides melaninogenicus and Bacteroides capillosus which are often implicated in acute oral infections. All of the β-lactamase-producing bacteroides strains were sensitive to a combination of amoxycillin with clavulanic acid (Augmenting). © 1990.