The fissure sampling technique consisted of removing the fissure using a bur in a high-speed handpiece with water spray and then suctioning the fissural contents and the water spray into a sterile sampling container. Sixty-eight teeth were sampled. Total bacterial counts, total streptococcal counts, and counts of Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus faecalis, Actinomyces viscosus, and lactobacilli were performed on the fissural samples. There was a four-fold increase in the total number of microorganisms recovered from carious (N=48) compared to non-carious (N=20) fissures. S. mutans was the only microorganism common to all carious fissures.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Loesche, W.J. ; Rowan, J.; Straffon , H.; and Loos, P.J.: Association of Streptococcus mutans with Human Dental Decay, Infect Immun11:1252-1260, 1975.
2.
Loesche, W.J. and Straffon, L.H.: Longitudinal Investigation of the Role of Streptococcus mutans in Human Fissure Decay, Infect Immun26:498-507, 1979.
3.
Ikeda, T.; Sandham, H.J.; and Bradley, E.L.: Changes in Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli in Plaque in Relation to the Initiation of Dental Caries in Negro Children, Arch Oral Biol18:555-566, 1973.
4.
Loë, H. ; Karring, T.; and Theilade, E.: An in vivo Method for the Study of the Microbiology of Occlusal Fissures , Caries Res7:120-129, 1973.
5.
Fejerskov, 0.; Silver, J.; Karring, T.; and Loë, H.: The Occlusal Fissure of Unerupted Third Molars as an Experimental Caries Model in Man, Scand J Dent Res84:142-149, 1976.
6.
Loesche, W.J. and Syed, S.A.: The Predominant Cultivable Flora of Carious Plaque and Carious Dentine, Caries Res7 :201-216, 1973.
7.
Fitzgerald, R.J. : Dental Caries Research in Gnotobiotic Animals , Caries Res2:139-146, 1968.
8.
Orland, F.J. ; Blayney, J.R.; Harrison , R.W.; Rey-Niers, J.A.; Trexler, P.C.; Ervin, R.J.; Gordon, H.A.; and Wagner, M.: Experimental Caries in Germfree Rats Inoculated with Enterococci, JADA50:259-272, 1955.
9.
Batty, I.: Actinomyces odontolyticus, a New Species of Actinomyces Isolated from Deep Carious Dentine, J Pathol Bact75:455-459, 1958.
10.
Shovlin, F.E. and Gillis, R.: Biochemical and Antigenic Studies of Lactobacilli Isolated from Deep Dentinal Caries. I. Biochemical Aspects, J Dent Res48:356-360, 1969.
11.
Radike, A.W. : Criteria for Diagnosis of Dental Caries. Proceedings of the Conference on the Clinical Testing of Cariostatic Agents , Chicago: American Dental Association , 1972.
12.
Gold, O.G.; Jordan, H.V.; and Van Houte, J. : A Selective Medium for Streptococcus mutans , Arch Oral Biol18 :1357-1364, 1973 .
13.
Ellen, R.P. and Balceryak-Racykowski , I.B.: Differential Medium for Determining Dental Plaque Bacteria Resembling Actinomyces viscosus and Actinomyces naeslundii, J Clin Microbiol2:305-310, 1975.
14.
Kornman, K.S. and Loesche, W.J.: A New Medium for Isolation of Actinomyces viscosus and Actinomyces naeslundii from Dental Plaque, Clin Microbiol7:514-518, 1978.
15.
Jordan, H.V. ; Krause, B.; and Moller, A.: A Method of Sampling Human Dental Plaque for Certain "Caries-inducing" Streptococci, Arch Oral Biol13:919-927, 1968.
16.
Shklair, I.L. and Keene, H.J.: A Biochemical Scheme for the Separation of the Five Varieties of Streptococcus mutans, Arch Oral Biol19:1079-1081, 1974.
17.
Buchanan, R.E. and Gibbons, N.E.Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 8th ed., Baltimore: The Williams and Wilkins Co., 1974, p. 580.
18.
Theilade, J. ; Fejerskov, 0. ; and Horsted, M.: A Transmission Electron Microscope Study of Seven-day-old Bacterial Plaque in Human Tooth Fissures, Arch Oral Biol21: 587-598,1976.
19.
Theilade, E. ; Fejerskov, 0.; Karring, T.; and Theilade, J.: A Microbiological Study of Old Plaque in Occlusal Fissures of Human Teeth, Caries Res12:313-319, 1978.
20.
Theilade, E. ; Larson, R.H.; and Karring, T.: Microbiological Studies of Plaque in Artificial Fissures Implanted in Human Teeth, Caries Res7:130-138, 1973.
21.
Thott, E.K. ; Folke, L.E.A.; and Sveen, O.B.: A Microbiological Study of Human Fissure Plaque, Scand J Dent Res82:428-436, 1974.
22.
Loesche, W.J. ; Rowan, J.; Straffon , H.; and Loos, P.J.: Association of Streptococcus mutans with Human Dental Decay, Infect Immun11:1252-1260, 1975.
23.
Shklair, I.L. ; Keene, H.J.; and Simonson , L.G.: Distribution and Frequency of Streptococcus mutans in Caries-active Individuals, J Dent Res51:882, 1972.
24.
Hoerman, K.C. ; Keene, H.J.; and Shklair, I.L.: The Association of Streptococcus mutans with Early Carious Lesions in Human Teeth, JADA85:1349-1352, 1972.
