Bacteroides endodontalis and other black-pigmented Bacteroides species in odontogenic abscesses

Abstract

Twenty-eight odontogenic abscesses were examined for the presence of black-pigmented Bacteroides spp. Of the 28 samples, 26 were found to contain one or more species of black-pigmented Bacteroides. Abscesses were divided into three categories according to the tissue of origin: endodontal, periodontal, and pericoronal. Four abscesses which developed after extraction were also examined. It was found that Bacteroides endodontalis, a newly described species of asaccharolytic black-pigmented Bacteroides, was isolated almost exclusively from periapical abscesses of endodontal origin. B. intermedius proved to be the most frequently isolated species in all of the samples. B. gingivalis was present in all of the periodontal abscesses studied, as well as in two endodontal abscesses. B. melaninogenicus was recovered once from a pericoronal abscess. Precautions for the isolation of B. endodontalis are discussed. Abscesses in the maxillofacial region are the most frequently occurring pyogenic infections in oral surgery. These infections are almost always of odontogenic origin. They may be classified according to the primarily infected tissues: endodontal (periapical), periodontal, and pericoronal. Other infections may be postoperative or may be caused by needleborne infections, jaw fractures, skin lesions, or extractions. Early research on the bacteriology of these kinds of infections suggested a major role for the viridans streptococci (13, 14). However, since the improvement of anaerobic sampling and cultivation techniques it was found that the majority of the microbiota of these abscesses consisted of obligately anaerobic microorganisms (1, 3, 5, 11). Within this group of bacteria gram-negative rods often are encountered. In addition, many other types of bacteria can be isolated, e.g., facultative and obligately anaerobic cocci and rods. Until now, few attempts have been made to correlate the different forms of dental abscesses with certain bacterial floras or specific combinations of bacterial species. Researchers in bacteriology often did not differentiate among the various forms of odontogenic abscesses, making correlation with the microbial flora involved impossible. Oguntebi and co-workers (12) found Fusobacterium spp. and Strepto

Extraradicular endodontic infections

“…aeruginosa and possibly S. epidermidis, the demonstrated bacteria occur in the oral cavity on the oral mucosa, the gingiva, the dorsum of the tongue, or the tonsils (32,33). The bacteria have also been demonstrated in the root canals of teeth with necrotic pulps (1,22,34), in deep periodontal pockets (35)(36)(37), and in acute abscesses of periodontal (26,38,39) or endodontic origin (23)(24)(25)(26). This study demonstrated these organisms in asymptomatic periapical lesions, and since several of the organisms are considered endodontic pathogens, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that they indeed caused or at least significantly contributed to the lesions.…”

“…Invasive capacity has been demonstrated for black-pigmented Bacteroides species (15)(16)(17), Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomilans (18,19), Capnocytophaga (20) and a number of other bacteria (21). The fact that several of these organisms have been implicated in some form of periodontal disease may indicate that invasiveness is an important aspect ofthe virulence of periodontopathic bacteria . These microorganisms have been demonstrated in infected root canals (1,2,22) as well as in pus from abseesses of endodontic origin (23)(24)(25)(26). Therefore, it was the purpose ofthe present investigation to examine patients with asymptomatie periapical inflammatory lesions that were refractory to endo-dontic treatment for extraradicular endodontic infections.…”

Antigen-presenting properties of gingival fibroblasts in chronic adult periodontitis

“…Data shown are from one out of two experiments and represent mean value of triplicate cultures; the s.d. was < 10% in all cases.tThe Pi-specific CD4+ T cell clones F5, F7,14 and the SEA-reactive T cell line OV1 were generated from PBMC. $Below detection level (01 U/ml).…”

Microbiological and molecular analysis of endodontic infections

“…Because endodontic infections are polymicrobial, the detection and identification of all associated organisms have been difficult and produced a great deal of confusing data. No absolute correlation has been made between any specific microbial species or combination of species with clinical signs and symptoms (14,(16)(17)(18)(19)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55).…”

“…In the 1970s, it was then determined that most bacteria in endodontic infections are strict anaerobes (9)(10)(11)(12). The diversity of the polymicrobial endodontic infections has been well established with from three to 12 species of microbes isolated from the majority of endodontic infections (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19).…”