الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The human mouth harbors one of the most diverse microbiomes in the human body, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa and archaea. A variety of anaerobic, facultative aerobes and spirochetes compete for space and nutrients.
Oral health is essential to general health and well-being. Poor oral health is a major risk factor for multiple oral diseases, most commonly, dental cavities, gingivitis and periodontal diseases. Oral hygiene can be clinically assessed by several indices, including the DMFT index.
The current study aimed to assess some of the oral pathogenic microorganisms in relation to oral hygienic practices.
In this study, the dental hygiene of 130 participants was studied in relation to some pathogenic oral microorganisms. The study was carried out in the period between August and November 2016. Saliva sample were collected from 130 participants working at the HIPH as follows (43 university teaching staff / students, 43 administrative personnel and 44 workers). A questionnaire sheet was completed for each individual including: age, sex, marital status, smoking status, profession, education status, snack type between main meals, the frequency of dentist visits, changing the tooth brush and the use of dental floss.
The following dental signs/symptoms were also reported (if any): Dental pain or caries, halitosis and existence of any artificial teeth or denture. Dental hygiene was also assessed using the DMF index. However, this was only performed for 90 patients. All 130 saliva samples were examined for the presence of: Enterobactericeae, S.mutans and Candida spp. Dental hygiene practices, dental complaints as well as the DMF index were all studied in relation to the studied microbial agents.
The present study showed the following results:
1. Data of the present study showed that of the 130 participants, females comprised 68.5 %, with a mean age of around 39 years. Around 60% of participants were married and around 80% were non-smokers. The majority of participants (66%) had snacks between main meals, mainly in the form of fruit and vegetables (61%). Also, 65% of participants did not have drinks between meals (neither sugary nor caffeinated drinks).
2. In addition, almost half of the participants regularly brushed their teeth once a day, while 25% did not brush their teeth on daily basis. These figures were consistent with those of the frequency of changing the tooth brush per year. Dental flossing was not a common practice among participants (90% did not floss). Around half of the participants visited the dentist once per year.
3. Participants with decayed teeth significantly suffered from dental pain, halitosis and had significantly higher numbers of artificial teeth and dentures (p < 0.05). The number of missing teeth significantly increased with age (p = 0.001) and decreased with annual dental visits, frequency of tooth brushing and changing the toothbrush (p < 0.001). Participants with dental fillings reported significantly higher intake of sugary drinks (p = 0.001) and less intake of caffeinated drinks (p= 0.041). This shows that the replacement of sugary drinks by caffeinated ones might be a simple modification to reduce dental fillings
4. Married participants had significantly higher mean DMFT index (almost 4.4) compared to non-married persons (almost 2.5), p = 0.033. Workers also had significantly higher DMFT index (almost 4.9), compared to lower DMFT values in higher professions such as university students and staff members (DMFT index = 2.7, p =0.025). This reflects the important role of education on the adoption of proper oral hygiene. The index was also significantly higher among those who reported no dental visits, lack of tooth brushing and flossing (p < 0.001). Higher DMFT index was accordingly higher among those who reported frequent dental pain, halitosis and artificial teeth (p < 0.001 in all mentioned symptoms).
5. The participants who made visits to the dentist had a significantly lower mean of missing teeth (1.2), filled teeth (mean = 0.8) and mean DMFT index (2.3), when compared to participants who did not visit dentists (2.9, 2.2 and 6.1 respectively). The same pattern applied for the frequency of tooth brushing and changing the toothbrush per year, as there was an inverse relationship between their frequency and the mean numbers of missing, filled teeth as well as the mean DMFT index (p ≤ 0.05).
6. In addition the most prevalent organism among participants was mutans streptococci (MS) (64.6% of isolates) followed by Candida spp (20.8%). Around 75% of the isolated Candida spp. Were found to be C .albicans spp as proven by the germ tube test. The least prevalent group was Enterobacteriaceae spp (10%), which comprised of Citrobacter koseri (46.2%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (38.5%), then Klebsiella oxytoca. Theonly organism isolated that was significantly associated with DMFT index was MS (p = 0.001). The median DMFT index among those with MS was 4, while patients who had no growth of S.mutans had a median DMFT = zero. This significant association highlights the importance of MS in the occurrence of decayed, missing and filled teeth.