A prospective study on the prevalence of bacterial causes of dental caries and calculus formation

Background and Objective: Dental caries and calculus are one of the chronic and recurrent dental problem that need medical treatment in a large group of population every year. The common factors associated with this calculus are commensal flora of mouth, food debris residue, misaligned tooth, host behavioural factors like lack of oral hygiene and brushing habits. Though the aetiology of disease is multifactorial but the initiation is due to prolonged stay of oral microbial flora. Material and Methods: Dental plaques are scraped off the tooth surface using curettes or spoon excavator are used to tissue excavation for caries teeth and put into sterile peptone water using sterile forceps. In this study total 42 clinical samples were collected from different areas of the tooth, including white spot lesions, cavities, deep dentin lesion and root surfaces. Results: Out of study population 26(62%) of the clinical samples found positive growth of which 24(57%) have found aerobic growth and 2(4.76%) were anaerobic growth. Viridians group of streptococci were the most common organism of which Streptococcus mutans 9(37.5%), S. salivarius 3(12.5%), S sanguis 2(8.3%), S mitis 2(8.3%) are prevalent among aerobic organisms. Some other isolated organisms are Moraxella spp. 2(8.3%), Actinomyces spp. 1(4%), Candida spp. 3(12.5%). Among the anaerobic isolates Lactobacillus were found in 1 sample and one sample showed growth of veillonella sp. Conclusion: Samples of the plaque surfaces exhibited a lower bacterial diversity which is predominantly Streptococcal mutans followed by Streptococcus sanguinis. Candida species and Actinomyces also may play an important role in caries production.