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A novel method for sampling the microbiota from the oral mucosa

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a site-specific sampling method that could give representative and quantitative results for defined areas of the oral mucosa and would be easy to use. Two site-specific sampling methods (swab and filter paper imprint) were compared. The filter paper sampling method was developed for this study. Samples were collected from 14 volunteers. All samples were cultured under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The number of viable bacteria and yeasts was determined and expressed per unit area. The filter paper recovered a significantly higher number of colony types of bacteria compared to the swab sample. Both collected a large number and variety of different oral microbes. The filter paper sampling method could be the optimal technique for quantitative site-specific oral mucosal samples and is highly suitable for both culture-based and non-culture-based identification of oral microbes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the statistical assistance of Professor Seppo Sarna, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki. This study project was supported by grants from the Finnish Dental Society Apollonia, Association for Dentists in Health Centres, HUCH Research Funds (EVO), and the University of Helsinki. We also acknowledge the support of the Järvenpää Health Centre Dental Clinic, Finland.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Peter Rusanen, Emilia Siikala, Malcolm Richardson & Riina Rautemaa

  2. Research Unit of Substance Abuse Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Peter Rusanen & Johanna Uittamo

  3. Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Emilia Siikala & Johanna Uittamo

  4. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

    Emilia Siikala & Riina Rautemaa

Authors
  1. Peter Rusanen
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  2. Emilia Siikala
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  3. Johanna Uittamo
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  4. Malcolm Richardson
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  5. Riina Rautemaa
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Riina Rautemaa.

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Rusanen, P., Siikala, E., Uittamo, J. et al. A novel method for sampling the microbiota from the oral mucosa. Clin Oral Invest 13, 243–246 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-008-0225-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-008-0225-5

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