Periodontal microbiota of mobile and non-mobile teeth

The mechanism of accelerated periodontal destruction around teeth with occlusal trauma and increased mobility remains unclear. One possibility is that tooth mobility creates a subgingival environment conducive to overgrowth by periodontal pathogens. This study compared the subgingival microflora in mobile and non-mobile teeth of 35 adults on supportive maintenance therapy and 15 with untreated adult periodontitis. In each subject, subgingival paper-point samples were obtained from a mobile tooth with a probing depth of 4 mm or greater and from a non-mobile tooth with similar probing depth and gingival index. Samples were transported in VMGA III medium. Pockets around mobile teeth harbored significantly higher proportions of Campylobacter rectus (P = 0.001) and Peptostreptococcus micros (P = 0.05) than pockets with non-mobile teeth. Mobile teeth also tended to show elevated levels of Porphyromonas gingivalis, but this did not reach statistical significance. This study suggests that tooth mobility may constitute a risk for periodontal breakdown due to an increased subgingival occurrence of specific periodontopathogens. This hypothesis needs to be verified in longitudinal clinical and microbiological studies.