View article

Background: Different periodontopathogenic microbiota have been associated with periodontal diseases in several populations. The present investigation determined the subgingival microbiota of untreated chronic periodontitis Brazilians using the checkerboard DNA‐DNA hybridization technique.

Methods: Twenty‐five periodontitis patients (mean age, 41 ± 2; mean probing depth [PD], 3.3 ± 0.2; mean attachment level [AL], 3.6 ± 0.2) with no history of previous periodontal therapy and a control group of 14 healthy subjects (mean age, 34 ± 0.6; mean PD, 1.8 ± 0.2; mean AL, 1.7 ± 0.1) were selected. Measurements of PD, AL, bleeding on probing, plaque accumulation, and suppuration were recorded at 6 sites/tooth. Subgingival plaque samples were obtained from 4 sites in each tooth/subject in both groups. The presence and levels of 41 subgingival species were determined in 4,032 plaque samples using whole …