Bacterial community development in experimental gingivitis

Current knowledge of the microbial composition of dental plaque in early gingivitis is based largely on microscopy and cultural methods, which do not provide a comprehensive description of oral microbial communities. This study used 454-pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 region of 16S rRNA genes (approximately 500 bp) to characterize the composition of plaque during the transition from periodontal health to gingivitis. A total of 20 healthy volunteers abstained from oral hygiene for two weeks, allowing plaque to accumulate and gingivitis to develop. Plaque samples were analyzed at baseline, and after one and two weeks. In addition, plaque samples from 20 chronic periodontitis patients were analyzed for cross-sectional comparison to the experimental gingivitis cohort.