Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Artigo Acesso aberto Produção Nacional Revisado por pares

BIBTEX RIS

Detection of streptococcus mutans and streptococcus sobrinus in dental plaque samples from Brazilian preschool children by polymerase chain reaction

2007; Fundação Odontológica de Ribeirão Preto; Volume: 18; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0103-64402007000400011

1806-4760

Teresa Cristina Costa Franco e Franco, Patrícia Amoroso, José Moacir Marin, Fernando Antônio de Ávila,

Streptococcal Infections and Treatments

The purposes of this study were to detect S. mutans and S. sobrinus by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, and to relate their presence to the incidence of dental caries in 42 Brazilian preschool children. Dental plaque samples were collected from the cervical margin of all erupted teeth of 5-6 years old children with primary dentition, using a sterile explorer. Examination of the dmft (decayed, missing, filled teeth) index, performed following the World Health Organization (WHO) caries diagnostic criteria, showed a 2.71 score. Prevalence of S. mutans and S. sobrinus was respectively, of 85.7% and 14.3%; no dental plaque sample was either positive or negative for both bacterial species. Children harboring either S. mutans or S. sobrinus presented the same caries prevalence. PCR showed good discriminative ability for differentiation between these species, and suggested that it is a technique suitable for epidemiological studies on mutans streptococci.