Determination of the presence of spirochetes in the subgingival plaque of Brazilian children.

In the present study we investigated the presence of spirochetes in the subgingival plaque of 66 boys and girls aged 5 to 10 years. A total of 264 samples were removed from 4 different sites using wooden wedges held with hemostatic pliers and introduced into tubes containing 0.6 ml reduced transport fluid (RTF). After dispersal of the material, smears were prepared and stained by the Fontana-Tribondeau and Giemsa methods for spirochete visualization. Slides were examined under a binocular light microscope with a 100X objective and at least 200 microorganisms were counted, including spirochetes. Spirochetes were detected in 27.27% of the samples and were absent in 72.73% of them, i.e., 65.15% of the children harbored spirochetes in at least one of the sites studied. The relative frequency of percentage of spirochetes observed was quite low in 6-year old children (9.09%), and was higher in 7- and 10-year old children (41.76% and 36.62%, respectively) than in the remaining age groups studied. The spirochete-age correlation was statistically significant (P < 0.01).