Next-Generation Sequencing Analysis of Root Canal Microbiota Associated with a Severe Endodontic-Periodontal Lesion

• Main Authors: Alessio Buonavoglia, Gianvito Lanave, Michele Camero, Marialaura Corrente, Antonio Parisi, Vito Martella, Carlo Prati
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Diagnostics
• Subjects: molecular diagnostics; next-generation sequencing; endodontic-periodontal lesion; oral bacteria
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/11/8/1461

A patient with an unusual endo-periodontal lesion, without coronal decay or damage, likely caused by a deep periodontal lesion with subsequent endodontic bacterial migration, required medical care. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to assess the endodontic microbiota in vestibular and palatal canals after tooth extraction, evidencing a predominant population (Fusobacterium nucleatum) in one endodontic canal, and a mixed bacterial population with six major populations almost equally distributed in the other endodontic canal (<i>F. nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis</i>, <i>P. endodontis, Parvimonas, Peptostreptococcus stomatis, Prevotella multiformis</i>). These data could suggest different, separated ecologic niches in the same endodontic system, with potentially different pathogenicity levels, clinical manifestations and prognoses for every single canal of the same tooth.