The investigation of protozoas in a group of patients with periodontal disease in Burdur oral and dental health care

E. gingivalis and T. tenax have a special place among the periodontal disease agents that cause destruction in the gingiva, periodontal ligament, cementum and alveolar bone that make up the periodontium, especially because they are opportunistic pathogens. Their rapid proliferation and pathogenicity in microbial dental plaque is directly related to oral hygiene habits.In this study, it was aimed to determine the presence of E. gingivalis and T. tenax in individuals with periodontal disease who applied to Burdur Oral and Dental Health Center. For this purpose, 46 adult patients (30 gingivitis 16 periodontitis) between 18-80 ages with periodontal disease who applied to the Center between 06.04.2021-12.11.2021 were included in our study. "Informed Consent Form" was signed by the patients who volunteered for the study, and also a questionnaire included different parameters was filled. In this period, supragingival dental plaque samples were taken from the patients' 1th molar teeth (or 2nd molar, 2nd premolar teeth instead). These samples were stained with Giemsa stain for T. tenax and Trichrome stain for E. gingivalis and examined under light microscobe.As a result; 25 of 46 (54.34%) examined patients were found to be infected with E. gingivalis, while T. tenax did not detected in any of the samples. This result supports previous studies and suggests the relationship of E. gingivalis with periodontal diseases. While there was no statistically significant relationship was found between the gender, age, tooth brushing habits, smoking, systemic diseases, anticoagulant drug use, COVID-19 disease and the presence of E. gingivalis in the questionnaire, there was significant relationship between education status and the presence of E. gingivalis.It is thought that the prevalence of these parasites from different parts of Turkey should be determined and prevention and control methods should be developed with new studies to be done. Keywords: E. gingivalis, Gingivitis, Microbial Dental Plaque, Periodontitis, T. tenax.