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Haffajee AD, Teles RP et al. J Periodont Res 2008; doi:10.1111/j.1600-0765.2008.01154.x

Supragingival plaque was collected from 187 adults (4,745 samples in total). Each sample was characterised for '40 bacterial species using checkerboard DNA–DNA hybridization'. Total counts revealed that there was marked variability in the numbers of organisms from discrete tooth surfaces. It was also found that as the total counts increased, so did the proportions of some species such as Capnocytophaga gingivalis and Eikenella corrodens whereas others such as Actinomyces naeslundii genospecies 2 and Veillonella parvula decreased. Increased counts were associated with increased pocket depth irrespective of gingival inflammation. The investigators acknowledged that 'No effort was made to take all of the supragingival plaque' from each tooth surface that was sampled and the age of the plaque biofilm was unknown.