Objectives: To compare levels of periodontal pathogens in denture biofilms between completely edentulous patients wearing conventional complete dentures and those wearing maxillary complete denture opposing implant prostheses.
Methods: The study was approved by the Loma Linda University IRB. Twenty adult patients were enrolled in the study. Group 1 (without implant prostheses) included seven completely edentulous patients wearing maxillary and mandibular completed dentures. Group 2 (with implant prostheses) included 13 patients wearing maxillary complete denture opposing implant prostheses (overdenture or implant single crowns). Dental prosthesis hygiene (denture plaque index) was assessed numerically according to the index described by Jeganathan et al. (1996). Swabs of the denture surface were collected, grown overnight, and genomic DNA was extracted. Periodontal pathogens including Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Eikenella corrodens (Ec), Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), and total bacteria, were determined by TaqMan real-time PCR. Pathogen levels were expressed as percentage of total bacteria. A comparison of the proportions of patients with positive findings of periodontal pathogens between the two groups was performed with Chi-square test. Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine differences of pathogen levels and dental plaque index between the two groups.
Results: Denture plaque index was not significantly different between the two groups (1.71 vs. 1.92, P>0.05). There were no significant differences of the detection rate between the two groups for Fn (57.1% vs. 84.6%), Ec (71.4% vs. 84.6%), Pi (85.7% vs. 84.6%), Tf (100% vs. 100%), Pg (100% vs. 100%), and Aa (100% vs. 92.3%). No significant difference of the periodontal pathogen level was observed between the two groups.
Conclusion: Periodontal pathogens are widely present in denture plaque. The pathogen level is comparable between patients with and without opposing implant prostheses.
Keywords: Denture Plaque, Biofilm, Periodontal pathogens, Implant prostheses