Associations between bacteremia from oral sources and distant-site infections: tooth brushing versus single tooth extraction.

Objectives: To determine the impact of antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) on the incidence of bacteremia caused by oral bacterial species associated with infective endocarditis (IE) and prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) and to compare the incidence of following tooth brushing versus single tooth extraction.

Study Design: Bacterial species in blood following single tooth extraction, with or without AP, and tooth brushing(1) were compared with IE- and PJI-associated bacteria reported in the literature.

Results: Of the 98 bacterial species identified in blood following single tooth extraction and tooth brushing, 32(1) and 12 were species were associated with IE and PJI, respectively.

Use of archived biopsy specimens to study gene expression in oral mucosa from chemotherapy-treated cancer patients.

Objectives: Oral mucositis caused by cancer chemotherapy can result in significant clinical complications. There is a strategic need to accelerate the delineation of the pathobiology. This proof-of-principle study was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of studying archived oral mucosal specimens to further delineate oral mucositis pathobiology.