<i>Tannerella forsythia</i> as one of severity degree predictors for chronic generalized periodontitis

BACKGROUND: Chronic generalized periodontitis takes the second place by the occurrence rate worldwide among the diseases of the maxillofacial area. High significance of preventing and early diagnostics for chronic generalized periodontitis is defined by the early tooth loss, by the decrease in chewing efficiency and by the development of chronic infection foci. It is known that the main etiology factor of chronic periodontitis is the microbial one, including the representative of the oral cavity microbiota — Tannerella forsythia, which is a Gram-negative, anaerobic bacterium. AIM: To verify the presence of T. forsythia in cases of chronic generalized periodontitis depending on the disease severity. METHODS: The research included 126 patients with chronic generalized periodontitis of various severity degree, for which, an analysis of the content of periodontal recess was carried out. In the control group, consisting of individuals with no periodontal tissue abnormalities (n=39), the content of gingival sulcus was analyzed. The samples were examined using the method of polymerase chain reaction following the real time mode by means of employing the DT-96 detection thermocycler (DNA-Tekhnologia NPO) and the «ParadontoScreen» test kit. RESULTS: The findings included a high direct correlation between the rate of detecting T. forsythia and the severity degree of the course of chronic periodontitis (the correlation coefficient value was found to be 0.997; p 0.05). A strong direct relation (0.948; p 0.05) was demonstrated between the concentration of T. forsythia genomic equivalent and the severity degree of chronic periodontitis. CONCLUSION: The conducted research has shown that the concentration of T. forsythia is a predictor for severity degree of chronic periodontitis.