Influence on periapical tissues of indigenous oral bacteria and necrotic pulp tissue in monkeys

In nine monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) the pulps of 78 teeth were aseptically necrotized. Twenty-six of the pulp chambers were kept bacteria-free by sealing, while 52 were infected by the indigenous oral flora. The results were recorded clinically, radiographically and microbiologically at the beginning of the experiment and after 6-7 months. The final examination also included histologic recordings. The initially noninfected root canals were all sterile at the final samplings, indicating that the risk of contamination (including hematogenous) of root canals of this animal is very slight. It was shown that noninfected necrotic pulp tissue did not induce inflammatory reactions in the apical tissues. By contrast, teeth with infected pulp tissue showed inflammatory reactions clinically (12/52 teeth) and radiographically (47/52 teeth). Facultatively anaerobic streptococci, coliform rods and obligately anaerobic bacterial strains were most frequently found. In the final samples the number of obligately anaerobic strains increased. Some microorganisms which were isolated in the initial samples were not detected in the final samples. All infected teeth histologically examined showed strong inflammatory reactions in the periapical region.