Subgingival bacteria in Ghanaian adolescents with or without progression of attachment loss

OBJECTIVE: This study describes subgingival bacterial profiles associated with clinical periodontal status in Ghanaian adolescents with or without progression of attachment loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Among 500 adolescents included in a cohort study, 397 returned 2 years later for a periodontal re-examination, including full-mouth CAL measurements. At follow-up, a subgroup of 98 adolescents was also subjected to bacterial sampling with paper points at four periodontal sites (mesial aspect of 11, 26, 31, and 46) and analyzed with the checkerboard DNA–DNA hybridization technique against DNA-probes from nine periodontitis-associated bacterial species. RESULTS: The 98 Ghanaian adolescents examined in the present study were similar to the entire group examined at the 2-year follow-up with respect to age, gender, and CAL ≥3 mm. A high detection frequency of Fusobacterium nucleatum and Prevotella intermedia (>99%) using checkerboard analysis was found, while for Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans the detection frequency was <50%. A strong correlation was found at the individual level between the presence of P. intermedia and the total CAL change, and P. intermedia and Porphyromonas gingivalis were strongly correlated with a change in CAL and probing pocket depth (PPD) at the sampled sites. In a linear regression model, a significant discriminating factor for the total CAL change in the dentition during the 2-year follow-up period was obtained for P. intermedia and public school. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that subgingival bacterial species other than A. actinomycetemcomitans, for example, P. intermedia, have a significant association with periodontal breakdown (change in CAL) in Ghanaian adolescents with progression of periodontal attachment loss.