The predominant cultivable microflora of advanced periodontitis

A study on the predominant cultivable microorganisms harbored in the base of deep periodontal pockets of eight patients aged 34-48 years was carried out using the roll tube culture technique. From a total of 475 isolates, 425 (89.5%) were obligate anaerobes, 356(74.9%) were Gram-negative, and 441(92.8%) were categorized as rods. Bacteroides melaninogenicus and Fusobacterium nucleatum constituted the majority of the isolates in seven samples, but their mutual proportions differed considerably between the samples. One sample was dominated by Actinomyces species. Some periodontopathic potentials of the predominating Gram-negative rods are summarized.