Culture independent characterisation of the microbiome of the healthy pulp

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Paul Hellyer

Abstract

Detectable bacterial DNA found in all pulp samples in this study.

Main

Widmer C, Skutas J, Easson C et al. J Endod 2018; 10.1016/j.joen.2018.03.009

It is becoming increasingly apparent, with new isolation and identification systems, that in healthy states, bacteria exist in symbiotic relationship with human hosts. Sites previously thought of as sterile, such as blood, urine and the dental pulp, are in fact populated by mircoorganisms.

Using verified decontamination techniques, this study removed the pulp tissue from ten disease-free, single-rooted teeth, with no history of trauma, prior to extraction for orthodontic reasons. DNA extraction techniques revealed an average of 343 (range 191–479) unique taxa per sample which were predominantly Ralstonia, Acinetobacter and Staphylococcus. Taxa dominant in plaque samples tended to be present in low abundance in the pulp and those dominant in the pulp present in low abundance in the plaque.

Other studies have shown the presence of these bacteria in blood but in different ratios and numbers to that found in pulpal tissue in this study. The authors conclude that there is evidence that the healthy pulp may not be sterile and that further research is needed.