Periapical Abscesses: Causal Bacteria and Antibiotic Sensitivity

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the aerobic and anaerobic flora of periapical abscesses and evaluate their susceptibility to various antibiotics. In 52 patients, with a diagnosis of periapical abscesses, pus cultures were taken. Forty-two aerobes and 122 anaerobes were revealed, with 2 or more than 2 anaerobic strains isolated in 36 patients. Infections were purely aerobic in 6%, purely anaerobic in 17% and mixed in 75%, while in 2% of the specimens there was no growth of microorganisms. Among anaerobes, microorganisms from the Bacteroides group (38.5%), Peptostreptococcus spp. (24.6%), Peptococcus spp. (13.9%), and Fusobacterium spp. (4.1%), predominated in all cultures. Among aerobes the most prevalent bacteria were streptococci (47.6%) followed by staphylococci (35.6%) while Enterobacteriaceae were isolated in 4.8% of specimens. Selected susceptibility tests performed on several anaerobic species revealed that nitroimidazole derivatives, chloramphenicol and clindamycin retain their broad spectrum killing activity against anaerobes, followed by cefoxitin and moxalactam. Of the newer quinolones, ofloxacin was the most effective. It is evident that the high isolation rate of anaerobic bacteria should influence empiric therapeutic decisions.

Microbiological evaluation of acute periradicular abscesses by DNA-DNA hybridization

“…These findings are in agreement with those of previous studies. [3][4][5]8,10,31,32 Fisher and Russell 33 investigated 45 samples from periradicular abscesses. Members of the S anginosus group were isolated from 16 patients (37%), with 15 being identified as S anginosus and 1 as S intermedius.…”

Susceptibility of oral obligate anaerobes to telithromycin, moxifloxacin and a number of commonly used antibacterials

“…In contrast, Goumas et al. (14), in a study of 52 Greek patients with periapical abscesses, detected a 20% mean rate of resistance to MTZ in 40 anaerobes isolates ( Peptococcus spp., Peptostreptococcus spp., Bacteroides spp., Propionibacterium spp. and Fusobacterium spp.).…”

“…Some published studies highlight the growing prevalence of obligate anaerobes of oral origin that are resistant to some of these antibiotics (5, 14, 16), giving rise to the need to investigate alternative antibiotics for therapeutic or prophylactic use.…”

The Evaluation of Chinese Herbal Medicine Effectiveness on Periodontal Pathogens

“…To treat periodontal diseases, plaque control and eradicating putative periodontal pathogens have proven to be effective (van Winkelhoff and de Graaff, 1986;Norland et al, 1978). Chemotherapy in treating periodontal diseases, including antibiotics and antiseptics in dentifrices, has been proven clinically effective (Goumas et al, 1997;Slot and van Winkelhoff, 1993;Moran et al, 1988). Unfortunately, the increased drug resistance activity of microorganisms to chemotherapy has become a serious problem over the past two decades.…”