Molecular detection of E. faecalis in oral samples of a population associated with secondary endodontic infection

Abstract

Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Enterococcus faecalis in samples of oral rinse and tongue dorsum of endodontic patients with secondary/persistent infections (EPSI) using the PCR method. Methodology: Oral rinse samples (ORS) and tongue swab samples (TSS) of 22 patients (EPSI group) and 32 healthy individuals (control group) were collected. DNA isolation from the TSS and ORS samples was performed using the modified classical phenol-chloroform and chloroform method. To detect E. faecalis strains directly from the TSS and ORS samples, the 310 base pair (bp) segment of the 16S rDNA of the E. faecalis genome was amplified by PCR using specific primers. The prevalence of E. faecalis was compared between healthy and sick individuals using the Chi-square test, significance was set at p