Isolation of opportunistic pathogens in dental plaque, saliva and tonsil samples from elderly.

on tooth surfaces (4-6)・ Oral pathogeでs are risk factors for bacterial pneumonia as they may be asplrated into the resplratory tract (6,7). Pathogenic bacteria in the biofilm in the dental plaque might also be released to colonize new surfaces, e.g., the tonsils, pharynx, and resplratOry tract. To test these possibilities, we studiedthe isolation frequencies of opportunistic bacteria on tooth and tonsil surfaces, and in saliva in the elderly. One hundred twenty-five elderly people (mean age: 73.0