ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Stomatologica 2008 November-December;57(11-12):561-7

Copyright © 2008 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

DNA Checkerboard method for bacterial detection of microbiota from teeth and tongue biofilms. A preliminary study

Do Nascimento C. ¹, Sato S. ¹, Mardegan Issa J. P. ², Edson Santos Barbosa R. ¹, Ferreira De Albuquerque Junior R. ¹

¹ Department of Dental Materials and Prosthodontics Faculty of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 2 Department of Morphology Stomatology and Physiology Faculty of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Aim. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of 13 bacterial species in the dorsum tongue biofilm and compare its microbiota to that of subgingival samples in healthy adult subjects using DNA Checkerboard hybridization.
Methods. A total of 40 samples, from subgingival and tongue biofilm, were enrolled into the study. All the samples were harvested and analyzed by DNA Checkerboard method for their content of 13 species of bacteria. Bacterial scores from each subject and location were averaged and the results of both sites were compared using the Wilcoxon signed ranks test.
Results. All the microorganisms evaluated were detected in both tongue and subgingival samples, without significant differences in their prevalence.
Conclusion. The dorsum of the tongue was colonized by various microorganisms with similar prevalence as found in the subgingival biofilm of healthy individuals, suggesting that the tongue could be a potential microbial reservoir and may play a role in the recolonization of teeth surfaces.