Microbiologic assessments to enhance periodontal diagnosis

Associations between microbes and progressive periodontal lesions provide the biologic rationale for using specific organisms as bacteriologic markers for disease activity. Rapid, specific and relatively inexpensive laboratory tests to identify bacteria have facilitated increased testing by clinicians. However, assays must be interpreted with regard to current concepts of etiology and pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. This paper addresses commonly used microbiologic assays and their shortcomings.