Oral Microbial Isolates from Patients Attending the Dental Clinic, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

AimTo evaluate microbial isolates from the buccal mucosa, carious teeth cavities and root tips of extracted carious teeth from patients attending the dental clinics of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. The isolates may guide the choice of preoperative antibiotics which hitherto has been based on “best guess”.Materials and MethodConsecutive consenting patients seen over a period of six months were included in the study.Pre-tested questionnaires were administered for socio-demographic and oral hygiene information. This was followed by an intra-oral examination. Oral swab was performed using a sterile microscopic culturing swab stick which was run along the buccal and labial sulci of the jaws. The swab tips were cut into brain-heart infusion broth and the cultured micro-organisms plated out on blood agar.  Microscopy, culture and sensitivity of the isolates were carried out using standard microbiological techniques.Data was analyzed using SPSS version 19. Frequency tables were generated and measures of central tendency were calculated.ResultsOne hundred and eighty-three patients were seen. The non-commensal micro-organisms isolated from the oral sulcus were predominantly coliforms (Klebsiella species in 15.8%, Escherichia coli in 13.70%) with normal oral flora found in 12 (6.6%) isolates. The carious cavities were also dominated by coliforms; Escherichia coli (20.6%), Klebsiella species (12%) and Proteus species (8.62%) with 10.34% being the normal flora isolates. The isolates from the root tip of extracted carious teeth yielded mainly Escherichia coli (28.6%) with no growth in over half of the samples.    High sensitivity of the isolates to quinolones and marked resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline were observed. Conclusion The isolation of invasive microorganisms from the oral cavity of our patients suggests the need for precautions that would reduce the oral microflora burden preoperatively. The antimicrobial antibiotic sensitivity pattern may guide the choice of prophylactic antibiotics in maxillofacial surgery.