Associations of specific bacteria with some endodontic signs and symptoms

Although a wide range of bacterial species has been isolated from infected dental root canals it remains necessary to determine whether any particular group of such bacteria is associated with specific endodontic symptoms and clinical signs. In this study 30 root canals were examined microbiologically; of these, 14 were associated with pain, 20 with tenderness to percussion, 23 presented with wet root canals, seven with swelling, five with purulent exudate and four with a sinus. Clinical and microbiological correlation was observed particularly with regard to pain where anaerobes were isolated from 93% of painful canals and only from 53% of painfree canals. The former yielded means of 2.5 anaerobic species and 1.6 facultative species per canal, compared with 1.5 and 2.4 in painfree canals. Prevotella spp. were isolated from 64.2% of painful canals and 12.5% of painless canals (P < 0.01) similarly, peptostreptococci were isolated from 71.4% of painful and 31.3% of painless canals (P < 0.05). It was concluded that a significant association exists between pain and the presence of Prevotella and Peptostreptococcus spp. in dental root canals.