Bacteriology of experimental gingivitis in young adult humans

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Abstract
From replicate trials of experimental gingivitis in 4 periodontally healthy subjects, 166 bacterial species and subspecies were detected among 3034 randomly selected isolates from 96 samples. If these bacteira, Actinomyces naeslundii (serotype III and phenotypically similar strains that were unreactive with available antisera), A. odontolyticus (serotype I and phenotypically similar strains that were unreactive with avaialble antisera), Fusobacterium nucleatum, Lactobacillus sp. D-2, Streptococcus anginosus, Veillonella parvula and Treponema spp. A appeared to be the most likely etiological agents of gingivitis. Statistical interpretations indicated that the greatest source of microbiological variation of the total flora observed was person-to-person differences in the floras. The next greatest source of variation was the inflammatory status of the sample sites. Person-to-person differences were smallest at experimental day 4. The floras becmae more diverse with time and as gingivitis developed and progressed. Analyzes indicated that sequential colonization by certain species was repeatable and therefore probably predictable. Variation was relatively small between replicate trials, between 2 sites on the same teeth sampled on the same day and between the same sites sampled at the same relative time in a replicate trial.