Bacteriology of experimental gingivitis in children

Abstract

Children are more resistant to gingivitis than are adults. To determine possible differences in their periodontal floras, an experimental gingivitis study, identical in design to one reported earlier with young adults, was conducted with 4 4-6 yr old children. The incidence of sites that developed gingival index scores of 2 in children was < 1/3 of the incidence observed in adults. The composition of the flora of each child was statistically significantly different from that of any other child or adult. The floras of the children as a group were statistically significantly different from those of the adults. Children had 3-fold greater proportions of Leptotrichia spp., 2.5-fold greater proportions of Capnocytophaga spp., 2.3-fold greater proportions of Selenomonas spp., 1-fold greater proportions of bacterial species that require formate and fumarate and 1.5-fold greater proportions of Bacteroides spp. Adults had greater proportions of Fusobacterium, Eubacterium and Lactobacillus spp. F. nucleatum, Actinomyces WVa 963, Selenomonas D04, and Treponema socranskii were predominant species that correlated with increasing gingival index scores in both children and adults.