Viruses could contribute to periodontitis according to a study in Oral Microbiology and Immunology (December 2009, Vol. 24: 6, pp: 506-509).
Most research and treatment has focused on bacteria, but researchers have long hypothesized that viruses, too, may play a role. Investigators at the University of Laval probed this question by searching for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), Epstein-Barr (EBV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in gingival crevicular fluid.
They found that 35% of periodontitis patients had HCMV, compared to 8% of controls, a statistically significant difference (p = 0.0377), and that the periodontitis patients with HCMV tended to have deeper pockets. And they documented a trend for a higher prevalence of HSV in the periodontitis patients.
They also found that scaling and root planing the patients with deep pockets could eliminate HCMV and EBV and reduce the HSV.
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