Abstract
Objective. The extent to which Fusobacterium nucleatum is recovered from root canals of teeth that present with an interappointment flare-up
following endodontic instrumentation was investigated. Study Design. Included in the study were 28 patients that sought emergency treatment after initiation
of root canal therapy. Only nonpainful teeth that had been treated because of a necrotic
pulp and periapical inflammatory lesion were studied. Root canal samples for bacterial
analysis were taken, transported to a bacteriological laboratory, and processed for
a semiquantitative assessment of bacterial isolates. Bacterial findings were correlated
with self-assessed pain intensity as recorded by means of a Visual Analogue Scale.
Clinical presentation of swelling and presence of exudate in the treated root canals
were also linked. Results. Bacteria were recovered from all teeth examined. Gram-negative anaerobic coccoid
rods (Prevotella species and Porphyromonas species) were frequent isolates. All teeth in patients who were reported to be in
severe pain (Visual Analogue Scale ≥ 6) displayed F nucleatum. Nine out of 10 of these teeth also had swelling and exudate in the root canals.
Samples from the remaining patients that had teeth with less pain score showed a variable
bacterial recovery. None of these teeth displayed F nucleatum. Conclusion.F nucleatum appears to be associated with the development of the most severe forms of interappointment
endodontic flare-ups. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2002;93:179-83)
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
September 24,
2001
Received in revised form:
May 24,
2001
Received:
April 3,
2001
Footnotes
*Reprint requests: Luis Eduardo Chávez de Paz Villanueva, Department of Oral Microbiology, Faculty of Odontology, Göteborg University, Box 450, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden [email protected]
Identification
Copyright
© 2002 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
