Microbiological and Molecular Characteristics of Microorganisms of Importance in Dental Caries and Periodontal Disease: Research Contributions in Colombia

Background: Dental caries is an infectious and multifactorial pathological process that destroys hard dental tissues, and Streptococcus mutans is found as the main microorganism associated with this disease.a multifactorial infectious disease, and, in its etiology, diverse microorganisms are involved, among which Porphyromonas gingivalis is of vital importance due to its virulence factors and role in the development of periodontal pathology. Purpose and Method: This integrative review article built on the basis of previously published research experiences of the authors of this document and contrasted with other studies worldwide, aimed to describe the microbiological and molecular characteristics of S. mutans and P. gingivalis, microorganisms, respectively, of great importance in dental caries and periodontal disease. Important studies were found with the use of the following keywords or medical subject headings (MeSH) in Pubmed, Scopus and Google Scholar: “S. mutans” and “P. gingivalis” and "phenotypic identification" and "genotypic characterization”. Results: From S. mutans, different biotypes were identified according to the methodology used, wide antimicrobial susceptibility and genotypic variability by AP-PCR that depends on the nesting of the primers on the DNA. Of P. gingivalis, high susceptibility to antimicrobials and broad genotypic discrimination were found by the AFLP technique. Conclusion: the deep phenotypic and genotypic knowledge of S. mutans and P. gingivalis, bacteria of great importance in dental caries and periodontal disease, together with the classical epidemiological study could be very important in the application of better prevention and control strategies that impact the oral public health in these two diseases.</jats:p>