DOI: 10.36347/sajp

Pages: 424-428

Every tooth surface is susceptible to decay and the most vulnerable spots are the areas where bacteria can take refuge. This study was carried out to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of bacteria associated with tooth decay. Over a seven-week period (between April and June, 2012), twenty freshly removed decayed teeth from patients attending the dental clinic at Ijebu-Ode General Hospital, Ogun State, Nigeria were screened for dental pathogens. Teeth were removed from patients diagnosed for various dental ailments like dental caries, periodontitis, aveola abscess and gingivitis. Infected areas of teeth were swabbed and inoculated directly on different media by streaking method. Blood agar, centrimide agar, Simon’s citrate agar, nutrient agar and nutrient broth were used for the isolation of associated dental pathogens. The isolates were further subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing employing the disc diffusion technique. The bacterial isolates implicated were Streptococcus mutans, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus albus, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The highest percentage frequency (53.13%) was shown by Streptococcus mutans while Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed the least percentage frequency of 6.25%. All isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, gentamycin and norfloxacin while highest level of resistance was shown to chloramphenicol and tetracycline. Bacteria isolates were relatively susceptible to the antibiotics investigated. However, multiple drug resistance of some bacterial strains to chloramphenicol and tetracycline should be of interest