Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of subgingival taxa of periodontal healthy persons and rapidly progressive periodontitis (RPP) patients using checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization and to find the main pathogens in RPP.
Methods: Eighty four subgingival plaque DNA samples taken from 5 healthy subjects (H) and 6 RPP patients were hybridizated with 37 bacterial probes.
Results: The detection frequences of 6 bacteria (E. corrodens, et al.) were greater than 90%. Suspected periodontal pathogens, e.g. A. actinomycetemcomitans seratype b, T. denticola, F. nucleatum as nucleatum, B. forsythus, P. nigrescens, W. succinogenes, C. rectus, P. micros, S. intermedius and P. gingivalis were significantly more frequently found in RPP group than in H group. The mean counts of these pathogens were significantly more elevated in RPP group than in H group.
Conclusion: It is suggested that periodontal destruction occurrence requires the pathogens in sufficient number at the site, RPP may be resulted from several pathogens.