Oral bacteria resistant to mercury and to antibiotics are present in children with no previous exposure to amalgam restorative materials

Dental plaque from 76 children without amalgam restorations was screened for bacteria resistant to mercuric chloride. Seventy-one per cent of the children harboured mercury-resistant oral bacteria and the median percentage of the total oral microflora resistant to mercuric chloride was 0.007% (range...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFEMS microbiology letters Vol. 223; no. 1; pp. 107 - 111
Main Authors Ready, Derren, Qureshi, Fizza, Bedi, Raman, Mullany, Peter, Wilson, Michael
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Oxford University Press 01.06.2003
Subjects
Ampicillin
Antibiotics
Bacteria
Children
Chloride resistance
Dental amalgams
Dental materials
Dental plaque
Dental restorative materials
Erythromycin
Mercuric chloride
Mercury
Mercury (metal)
Mercury compounds
Microbiology
Microflora
Oral microflora
Penicillin
Streptococcus infections
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Summary:Dental plaque from 76 children without amalgam restorations was screened for bacteria resistant to mercuric chloride. Seventy-one per cent of the children harboured mercury-resistant oral bacteria and the median percentage of the total oral microflora resistant to mercuric chloride was 0.007% (range 0–5.3%). Eighty-seven mercury-resistant bacteria were isolated and 86% of these were streptococci with Streptococcus mitis predominating. Sixty per cent of the mercury-resistant isolates were also resistant to at least one of the four antibiotics tested (penicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline) with resistance to tetracycline (40% of isolates) most frequently encountered.
ISSN:0378-1097
1574-6968
DOI:10.1016/S0378-10970300351-3