Spirochetes

[This page is in progress.]

Comprehensive approaches to species identification, and therefore quantification, of spirochetes in a sample are not available, as popular serological and molecular tests do not yet screen for more than one species of oral spirochete, Treponema denticola. The pathogenicity of uncultivable spirochetes is uncertain, which raises the question of whether other species of oral spirochetes express more pathogenic or virulent characteristics than T. denticola. How can physicians be certain, based on modern testing methods, if their patients are harboring high numbers of any of the other 50-60 species of oral spirochetes?

“The bacterium has a suite of molecular determinants that could enable it to cause tissue damage and subvert the host immune response. In addition to this, it has several non-classic virulence determinants that enable it to interact with other pathogenic bacteria and the host in ways that are likely to promote disease progression.”

 

  Infected Root Canals

A significant amount of literature exists on systemic issues caused by low-grade, chronic infections in root canals. If the source of endodontic bacterial infection is dispersed, we are able to see the associated pathogens in saliva, including oral spirochetes, which are seen in a high percentage of endodontic infections (“Root canal infections are usually caused by a mixture of two or three species of bacteria.”). Regardless of the origin point of dispersal, if there is a high number of spirochetes present in whole saliva, their potential to work against treatment protocol should be taken into consideration.

“We found concomitant presence of two (32 teeth) or three species (18 teeth) of bacteria in 50 (80.6%) out of 62 tested teeth. However, only 34 bacterial species were identified. Of a total of 118 bacterial isolates (83 anaerobes and 35 aerobes), Prophyromonas endodontalis was detected in 10; Bacteroides, Dialister invisus or Fusobacterium nucleatum in 9; Treponema denticola or Enterococcus faecalis in 8; Peptostreptococcus or Olsenella uli in 6; and Veillonella in 5 teeth. […] Root canal infections are usually caused by a mixture of two or three species of bacteria.”

“Since root canal teeth are chronically infected and these pathogenic bacteria can travel to other sites in your body, they may contribute to a number of different health problems, including heart disease”

 

Cardiovascular Disease

[Coming soon.]

Alzheimer’s Disease

“Periodontal pathogen Treponemas (T. pectinovorum, T. amylovorum, T. lecithinolyticum, T. maltophilum, T. medium, T. socranskii) and Borrelia burgdorferi were detected using species specific PCR and antibodies. Importantly, co-infection with several spirochetes occurs in AD.

“The number of diverse Treponema species was significantly higher in the brains of AD patients compared to controls []. Treponema antigens were detected both in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. These important results, as proposed earlier [,–], indicate that periodontal pathogen spirochetes in an identical way to T. pallidum have the ability to invade the brain, persist in the brain and cause dementia.”

 

Autoimmune Disease

“The possible role of infections in driving autoimmune disease (AD) has long been debated. Many theories have emerged including release of hidden antigens, epitope spread, anti-idiotypes, molecular mimicry, the adjuvant effect, antigenic complementarity, or simply that AD could be a direct consequence of activation or subversion of the immune response by microbes. […] Overall, recent evidence suggests that microbes activating specific innate immune responses are critical, while antigenic cross-reactivity may perpetuate immune responses leading to chronic autoinflammatory disease.”

“As early as 2009, researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland reported in the Journal of Periodontology that patients with severe RA had less joint pain and swelling and better overall health when they received treatment for gum disease in addition to arthritis medications.”