The breadth of bacterial diversity in the human periodontal pocket and other oral sites

'The breadth of bacterial diversity in the oral cavity is truly remarkable with over 700 bacterial species identified. Over half of these species have not yet been cultivated. More than 400 of these species have been detected in the periodontal pocket. Sites in the oral cavity have a distinctive microbial profile that changes with disease status. Several bacterial species, including those that cannot be grown in vitro, have been associated with either oral health or disease. 

Furthermore, some of these oral species have been associated with extraoral systemic diseases, such as endocarditis, preterm low-birth-weight infants, and coronary heart disease. DNA probes targeting most oral species can be used in checkerboard assays, or more recently, the HOMIM to better assess the role of specific species in health and disease.

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