SHORT-TERM EFFECT OF FULL-MOUTH EXTRACTION ON PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS COLONIZING THE ORAL MUCOUS-MEMBRANES

In this study, we investigate the prevalence of selected periodontal pathogens on the oral mucous membranes before and after full-mouth tooth extractions in patients with severe periodontitis. 8 patients were microbiologically examined 2 x before and 2 x after extraction; several locations on the oral mucous membranes, saliva, supra- and subgingival plaque, were sampled. Besides their presence in subgingival plaque, we detected before extraction on the mucous membranes Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in 2 patients (mean 0.03%), Porphyromonas gingivalis in 6 patients (mean 9%), and Prevotella intermedia (mean 2%) and other Prevotella species (mean 7%) in all patients. At 1 and 3 months after extraction, A. actinomycetemcomitans and P gingivalis could not be detected in any of these patients on the oral mucous membranes and in saliva, while from all patients still P intermedia (mean 3%) and the other blackpigmented Prevotella species (mean 4%) could be isolated. These results indicate that the preferable habitat for A. actinomycetemcomitans and P gingivalis is dental plaque in subgingival lesions. P intermedia and the other blackpigmented Prevotella species can colonize the oral mucous membranes of edentulous patients irrespective of the presence of a subgingival microflora. We speculate that in periodontal patients the colonization of mucous membranes with P gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans is transient in nature and most likely the result of dissemination from the subgingival microflora. Thus it seems unlikely that edentulous patients constitute a reservoir of infection of P gingivalis A. actinomycetemcomitans.