[Morphology and diagnosis of Entamoeba gingivalis and Trichomonas tenax and their occurrence in children and adolescents].

Specimens obtained from 176 eight- to nineteen-year-old subjects were cultured for oral protozoa. Of the given series, 25 subjects (14.2%) had in their mouth only E. gingivalis, 5 (2.9%) had a mixed invasion of E. gingivalis and T. tenax, and 2 subjects (1.1%) had only T. tenax. A total of 32 subjects (18.2%) were infested by oral protozoa. The following conclusions were made: oral protozoa occur also in children and teenagers with a cured or intact dentition; their occurrence rate was higher in 11- to 19-year-old subjects than in the lower age groups; both protozoa can occur simultaneously; their occurrence rate was age dependent (increasing with age) with the rate of E. gingivalis rising significantly more rapidly with age than that of T. tenax; their occurrence was found to be sex dependent with higher rates in boys than in girls. In the light of the high recovery rate (83.3%) of E. gingivalis from dental and periodontal swabs, not only specimens of saliva should be collected but also dental nad periodontal swabs should be taken and cultured when studying the occurrence of oral protozoa in the population. (Tab.4,Fig.2,Ref.7).