Isolation of Tooth caries bacterial pathogens

This investigation was conducted to isolate aerobic microorganisms from dental cavities. Patients that visited a clinic in Al-Hilla City, between 2021 and 2022 made up the research population. A total of (112) samples were gathered from people aged 5 to 68. Some were obtained by pressing a wooden stick against a local lesion or the gum edge that was linked to teeth, while the other samples were from teeth that were extracted by dentists at the dental clinic. Utilizing the help of a dentist, samples were taken with aseptic techniques. The samples were put into specially sterilized containers. Suffering from risk factors (diabetes, smoking, no brushing…etc.), Name, age, and date of the patient were taken. The materials were either processed right once or, if delayed, injected into a 24-hour brain-heart infusion. After being enhanced with a brain-heart infusion, the collected samples were grown on primary bacteriological media and incubated at 37°C for 24hrs. Visual growth on the inoculation plates was seen after incubation, and the morphology of the colonies was documented. Standard microbiological methods were used to identify the isolates, including Gram's staining, the morphological appearance of the colonies, and biochemical characteristics such as the catalase test, coagulase test, TSI, IMVIC, etc. From the (112) samples, 71 (63.4%) samples showed growth on the cultured media, it showed significant differences at age 13-35 years. The other 41 (36.6%) samples did not show any bacterial growth. The majority of bacteria isolated from patients with tooth caries were Streptococci, which were isolated at 53.5%, followed by S. aureus, which were isolated at 33.8%, and another Staphylococci were 12.7%. In conclusion, Streptococcus spp. was the main bacteria that isolated from patients with tooth caries at age from 13-65 years due to exposure to different agents such as diabetes, smoking, improper brushing…etc.