Change in infected root canal microflora during the course of root canal therapy

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to profile the microflora in infected root canals, using anaerobic culture and molecular biological techniques for bacte- rial identification, before and after root canal treatment. The mean bacterial count in root canals before treatment was 106, and obligate anaerobes were predominant. The predominant isolates were Olsenella, Pseudoramibacter, Propionibacterium and Mogibacterium. On second and third visits, no bacteria were detected in the samples collected after treatment. These results suggest that the environment in root canals is anaerobic and therefore support the growth of anaerobes, and that adequate treatment changes the root canal environment drastically.