The early colonization of gram‐negative anaerobic bacteria in edentulous infants

摘要

The occurrence of oral gram‐negative anaerobes was examined in 30 edentulous infants (mean age 3 months, range 1‐7 months). One pooled swab sample from mucosal surfaces (cheeks, palate, tongue) and one saliva sample was taken from each infant. The samples were cultured aerobically and anaerobically using non‐selective and selective media.Prevotella (Bacteroides) melaninogenicawas the most frequently isolated anaerobe, found in 70 of the infants. The other common anaerobes wereFusobacterium nucleatum, Veillonellaspp. and nonpigmentedPrevotella (Bacteroides)spp., found in 60, 57 and 57 of the infants, respectively. Of corroding bacilli,Bacteroides graciliswas detected in 23 of the infants,Wolinellaspp. and microaerophilicEikenella corrodensin one infant (3 each).Leptotrichiaspp., microaerophilicCapnocytophagaspp.,Prevotella (Bacteroides) loescheiiandPrevotella (Bacteroides) intermediawere found in 17, 13, 13 and 7 of the infants, respectively. In addition to these 30 infants, 21 edentulous infants were investigated for the presence ofActinobacillus actinomycetemcomitansonly.A. actinomycetemcomitanswas not detected in any of the 51 edentulous infants. The number of different anaerobic bacterial species in the same mouth varied from 0 to 7. No anaerobic bacteria were detected in 3 of 30 children (10). These data suggest that various anaerobic bacterial species readily colonize the edentulous mouth in in