PREVALENCE OF ENTAMOEBA GINGIVALIS IN PATIENTS WITH GINGIVITIS AND PERIODONTITIS AND HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS

The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Entamoeba gingivalis among 300 (156 males and 144 females) participants divided into three groups as follows: 100 patients with periodontitis (periodontitis group), 100 patients with gingivitis (gingivitis group), and 100 individuals with healthy gingiva (healthy control group), using wet mount technique with physiological saline and Giemsa stain. The overall prevalence of E. gingivalis was 18.3% and the highest prevalence of E. gingivalis was among periodontitis group (29%) followed by gingivitis group (18%), and healthy group (8%). The highest prevalence (23.7%) of E. gingivalis was found among the age group 40-49 years. Infection was highly significant in males than females (23.7% vs.12.5%). With regard to risk factors, the prevalence of E. gingivalis was common in non-tooth brush users, smokers, qat chewers, and diabetic patients and there were significant differences between tooth-brush users and non-tooth brush users, smokers and non-smokers, qat chewers and non-gat chewers, and between diabetic and non-diabetic patients and occurrence of E. gingivalis. We conclude that the higher prevalence of E. gingivalis in periodontal disease compared to healthy individuals may be an indicator of the potential role E. gingivalis in the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases.