Subgingival bacteria in a case of prepubertal periodontitis, before and one year after extractions of the affected primary teeth.

The treatment of children with prepubertal periodontitis (PP), may be complicated by the extent of the lesions and the possibility of tetracycline stain of the developing permanent dentition. Therefore, with the purpose of preventing the infection of permanent teeth during the mixed dentition, it has been recommended that the treatment of children with PP, should include the early extraction of the primary teeth affected with alveolar bone loss (ABL). Still, there is little evidence which confirms that extraction of the affected primary teeth do in fact reduce the periodonto-pathogens load of the subgingival plaque. The present study reports values of colony forming units (CFU) of total anaerobic bacteria, Actinobacillus actynomicetemcomitans (Aa) and Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) from the subgingival plaque from a child with PP, collected immediately before and 1 year after extractions of the primary teeth affected with ABL. CFU of Aa and Pg developed only from the subgingival plaque collected before the extraction of the primary teeth affected with ABL. These findings suggest that in cases of PP, extraction of the affected primary teeth may reduce the possibility of infection of the periodontum of the permanent teeth during the mixed dentition period.