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Diversity and site-specificity of the oral microflora in the elderly

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to describe the bacterial diversity in the oral cavity of the elderly without root caries using bacterial microarrays, and to determine the site- and subject-specificity of bacterial colonization. Samples were collected from the tongue dorsum, mucosa of the buccal fold, hard palate, supragingival plaque from sound root surfaces, and subgingival plaque from the same roots. A new 16 S rRNA gene-based microarray method was used for the simultaneous detection of approximately 300 bacterial species. Overall, 175 species and clusters were detected, representing eight phyla. Species belonging to the genera Streptococcus, Veillonella, and Fusobacterium were common in all sites. The number of species per subject varied from 51 to 81. Statistical analyses revealed about 40 species or clusters with significant associations with at least one of the sites. The bacterial diversity was highest in the cheek and palate regions. Species typically associated with caries and periodontitis were detected rarely or not at all. The oral bacterial flora of the elderly appears to be diverse, and, to a large extent, site- rather than subject-specific.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Sabah Tariq and particularly Marianne Wenaasen, the Cathinka Guldberg Centre, Oslo, Norway, for the patient management. We acknowledge Susan K. Boches and Sean J. Cotton, the Forsyth Institute, Boston, MA, USA, for their excellent laboratory assistance. Professor Leiv Sandvik is kindly acknowledged for the statistical analysis advice. The study was supported by the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, and NIH grant DE11443 (B.J.P.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Postbox 1052 Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    D. Preza, I. Olsen & B. Grinde

  2. Department of Gerodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    T. Willumsen

  3. Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

    B. Grinde

  4. The Forsyth Institute, Department of Molecular Genetics and Department of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    B. J. Paster

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  1. D. Preza
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  2. I. Olsen
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  3. T. Willumsen
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  4. B. Grinde
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  5. B. J. Paster
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. Preza.

Electronic supplementary material

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Table S1

Total number of species/clusters detected in all of the categories (PDF 146 kb)

Table S2

Species with Cochrane P < 0.005 and sign test P < 0.05 (PDF 125 kb)

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Preza, D., Olsen, I., Willumsen, T. et al. Diversity and site-specificity of the oral microflora in the elderly. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 28, 1033–1040 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0743-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-009-0743-3

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