Life Sciences Commons^™

Etiology Of Oral Disease In View Of Microbial Complexity, Anne C.R. Tanner, Jacques Izard

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The number of different microorganisms recognized in the oral cavity using molecular methods has more than doubled compared with the number isolated using cultural techniques. This finding necessitates a reevaluation of which species may be pathogens in dental infections. Molecular methods used to determine microbial diversity include broad range target Polymerase Chain Reaction with ‘universal primers’, and cloning amplicons or denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis to separate DNA fragments before sequencing. These molecular methods have clarified and expanded the taxonomy of oral microbial species. Discrepancies between comprehensive molecular and cultural methods suggest that neither method alone can adequately evaluate associations of …