Flora in Untreated Root Canals

Pucnobial flora in intact nonvital canals and infected non vital canals is different. There are 11 different phyla, representatives from only six of those have been reported in endodontic infections to date, namely,

Bacteroids,

Spirochaetes,

Firmicutes,

Actinobacteria,

Fusobacteria, and

Proteobacteria.

Diversity of Endodontic Microflora

The microflora associated with endodontic infections is far more diverse than has been shown previously by cultural studies alone, mainly due to the advanced molecular detection methods available now.

Although bacteria are by far the most common micro-organisms involved in endodontic infection, recently studies even revealed possibility for fungi and even more recently viruses. The various viruses which have been implicated are Herpes virus, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein - Barr virus (EBV).