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Updated: May 2, 2026

Oral Biofilm Sampling for Microbiome Analysis in Healthy Children
Published on: December 31, 2017
A bidirectional relationship of oral-systemic responses: observations of systemic host responses in patients after
L L Cunningham1, M J Novak2, M Madsen3
1Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA; Center for Oral Health Research, College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
Objective:
This investigation tested the hypothesis that systemic inflammatory responses would be attenuated by minimizing the oral microbial burden in patients with moderate to severe periodontitis.
Study Design:
Patients (n = 73) scheduled for full-mouth extractions were categorized as case type I/II (gingivitis/mild periodontitis) or case type III/IV (moderate/severe periodontitis). Serum levels of acute phase proteins (APPs) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody were assessed at baseline and through 1 year after extraction.
Results:
At baseline, the levels of multiple APPs (e.g., fibrinogen, C-reactive protein) and antibodies to periodontal pathogens were significantly higher with case type III/IV vs I/II. These differences were sustained 12 months after extractions for most APPs.
Conclusions:
The results demonstrated that removal of disease by full-mouth extraction of teeth altered the overall burden of challenge to the host. Continued elevation in various APPs in the III/IV group suggested a potential underlying constitutive difference in systemic response characteristics of this population.
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