Abstract
Various bacterial species derived from different oral niches can be detected in saliva. Periodontal pocket is one such niche; with periodontal disease progression, the salivary counts of periodontal pocket-specific bacteria (those multiplying in periodontal pocket) may increase. Based on the above hypothesis, the proportion of periodontal pocket-specific bacteria, comprising 11 bacterial species, among salivary microbiota was determined in saliva specimen using the next-generation sequencing analysis; furthermore, the relationship between this proportion and periodontal disease condition was evaluated. The findings showed that the presence of ≥ 10–15 sites with a periodontal pocket depth ≥ 4 mm in study patients could be predicted with a sensitivity of 0.88 and specificity of 0.7, with the cut-off level of the proportion of periodontal pocket-specific bacterial species among salivary microbiota set at 0.139 percent. Conventional periodontal disease screening at mass health examinations using a periodontal probe is time and manpower consuming. Therefore, the bacterial examination of saliva specimen is expected to substitute the conventional periodontal examination and become a promising novel screening technique for periodontal disease.
