Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Intraoral dissemination of treponemes after periodontal therapy

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Clinical Oral Investigations Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Oral treponemes are related to chronic periodontitis, but the effect of periodontal therapy on the majority of treponemal species is unknown. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the dynamics in prevalence profiles of treponemes in different habitats of the oral cavity. Thirty-five patients with chronic periodontitis were randomly assigned to mechanical debridement alone (control group) or systemic amoxicillin/metronidazole plus chlorhexidine (test group). Subgingival and mucous membrane plaque samples were taken at baseline, after 10 days, and during supportive periodontal therapy at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. T. denticola, T. lecithinolyticum, T. maltophilum, T. socranskii, T. vincentii, and treponemal phylotypes I–VII were detected using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and dot blot analysis. For the majority of the assessed treponemes, a significant intragroup increase in prevalence in the different habitats (P<0.05) occurred over the study course but, compared to debridement alone, adjunctive antimicrobial therapy resulted in a nonsignificant trend toward lower prevalence in the subgingival habitat. In no case were treponemes eradicated from the oral cavity. After both therapies, possibly new infection with and/or dissemination of Treponema ssp. occurred, which led to treponemes recovering in different habitats and to increased intraoral prevalence. The prescribed adjunctive antimicrobial therapy may limit this increase in the subgingival region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Beikler T, Abdeen G, Schnitzer S, Saelzer S, Ehmke B, Flemmig TF (2003) Microbiological shifts in intra- and extraoral habitats following mechanical periodontal therapy. J Clin Periodontol, in press

  2. Carranza N Jr, Riviere GR, Smith KS, Adams DF, Maier T (1997) Differential attachment of oral treponemes to monolayers of epithelial cells. J Periodontol 68:1010–1018

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Choi BK, Paster BJ, Dewhirst FE, Gobel UB (1994) Diversity of cultivable and uncultivable oral spirochetes from a patient with severe destructive periodontitis. Infect Immun 62:1889–1895

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Cugini MA, Haffajee AD, Smith C, Kent RL Jr, Socransky SS (2000) The effect of scaling and root planing on the clinical and microbiological parameters of periodontal diseases: 12-month results. J Clin Periodontol 27:30–36

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Dewhirst FE, Tamer MA, Ericson RE, Lau CN, Levanos VA, Boches SK, Galvin JL, Paster BJ (2000) The diversity of periodontal spirochetes by 16S rRNA analysis. Oral Microbiol Immunol 15:196–202

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ehmke B, Beikler T, Haubitz I, Karch H, Flemmig TF (2003) Multifactorial assessment of predictors for prevention of periodontal disease progression. Clin Oral Invest 7:217–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ehmke B, Moter A, Beikler T, Milian E, Flemmig TF (2004) Adjunctive antimicrobial therapy of periodontitis: long-term effects on disease progression and oral colonization. J Periodontol (submitted)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Feres M, Haffajee AD, Allard K, Som S, Socransky SS (2001) Change in subgingival microbial profiles in adult periodontitis subjects receiving either systemically administered amoxicillin or metronidazole. J Clin Periodontol 28:597–609

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Flemmig TF, Milian E, Kopp C, Karch H, Klaiber B (1998) Differential effects of systemic metronidazole and amoxicillin on Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis in intraoral habitats. J Clin Periodontol 25:1–10

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Heasman PA, McCracken GI, Steen N (2003) Supportive periodontal care: the effect of periodic subgingival debridement compared with supragingival prophylaxis with respect to clinical outcomes. J Clin Periodontol 29 [Suppl 3]:163–172

    Google Scholar 

  11. Kolenbrander PE, Parrish KD, Andersen RN, Greenberg EP (1995) Intergeneric coaggregation of oral Treponema spp. with Fusobacterium spp. and intrageneric coaggregation among Fusobacterium spp. Infect Immun 63:4584–4588

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Lindhe J, Liljenberg B, Adielsson B (1983) Effect of long-term tetracycline therapy on human periodontal disease. J Clin Periodontol 10:590–601

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Listgarten MA, Levin S (1981) Positive correlation between the proportions of subgingival spirochetes and motile bacteria and susceptibility of human subjects to periodontal deterioration. J Clin Periodontol 8:122–138

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Listgarten MA, Lindhe J, Hellden L (1978) Effect of tetracycline and/or scaling on human periodontal disease. Clinical, microbiological, and histological observations. J Clin Periodontol 5:246–271

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Loesche WJ (1988) The role of spirochetes in periodontal disease. Adv Dent Res 2:275–283

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Loy A, Horn M, Wagner M (2003) probeBase: an online resource for rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes. Nucleic Acids Res 31:514–516

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Mager DL, Ximenez-Fyvie LA, Haffajee AD, Socransky SS (2003) Distribution of selected bacterial species on intraoral surfaces. J Clin Periodontol 30:644–654

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Moore WE (1987) Microbiology of periodontal disease. J Periodontal Res 22:335–341

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Moter A, Hoenig C, Choi BK, Riep B, Gobel UB (1998) Molecular epidemiology of oral treponemes associated with periodontal disease. J Clin Microbiol 36:1399–1403

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Paster BJ, Boches SK, Galvin JL, Ericson RE, Lau CN, Levanos VA, Sahasrabudhe A, Dewhirst FE (2001) Bacterial diversity in human subgingival plaque. J Bacteriol 183:3770–3783

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Rickard AH, Gilbert P, High NJ, Kolenbrander PE, Handley PS (2003) Bacterial coaggregation: an integral process in the development of multi-species biofilms. Trends Microbiol 11:94–100

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Savitt ED, Socransky SS (1984) Distribution of certain subgingival microbial species in selected periodontal conditions. J Periodontal Res 19:111–123

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Socransky SS, Haffajee AD, Cugini MA, Smith C, Kent RL Jr (1998) Microbial complexes in subgingival plaque. J Clin Periodontol 25:134–144

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Soder PO, Frithiof L, Soder B (1990) Spirochaetes and granulocytes at sites involved in periodontal disease. Arch Oral Biol 35 [Suppl]:197S–200S

    Google Scholar 

  25. Syed SA, Loesche WJ (1972) Survival of human dental plaque flora in various transport media. Appl Microbiol 24:638–644

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. van Winkelhoff AJ, Rodenburg JP, Goene RJ, Abbas F, Winkel EG, de Graaff J (1989) Metronidazole plus amoxycillin in the treatment of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans associated periodontitis. J Clin Periodontol 16:128–131

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Wyss C, Choi BK, Schupbach P, Guggenheim B, Gobel UB (1996) Treponema maltophilum sp. nov., a small oral spirochete isolated from human periodontal lesions. Int J Syst Bacteriol 46:745–752

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to U. Leitl for his excellent technical assistance and to S. Griesbach for help in editing this manuscript. This study was supported by grants 01 KI 9316/8/9 and 01 KS 9603/A-5 of the German Ministry of Education, Science, Research, and Technology (BMBF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Periodontology, Westfalian Wilhelm University, Waldeyerstrasse 30, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Benjamin Ehmke, Thomas Beikler & Thomas Flemmig

  2. Department of Periodontology and Synoptic Dentistry, Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany

    Birgit Riep

  3. Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene, Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany

    Ulf Göbel & Annette Moter

Authors
  1. Benjamin Ehmke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas Beikler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Birgit Riep
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Thomas Flemmig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Ulf Göbel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Annette Moter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin Ehmke.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ehmke, B., Beikler, T., Riep, B. et al. Intraoral dissemination of treponemes after periodontal therapy. Clin Oral Invest 8, 219–225 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-004-0272-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-004-0272-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation