VISUALIZATION OF ORAL BACTERIAL LOAD USING ACRIDINE ORANGE DYE AND ITS APPLICATION FOR ORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT

Background: Assessment of oral health is essential as oral health may impact overall health condition. Traditionally used culture medium to assess bacterial load is costly and time consuming. Hence, use of fluorescent dye to assess the estimation of bacterial load. Materials and Method: Swab of 100 subjects was taken and stained the section with Acridine Orange fluorescent dye and number of bacteria in unit area was measured. Result: At all points, the number of oral bacteria in the latter was higher than in the former. It was significantly higher in latter than former (p<0.05). Conclusion: Fluorescent dyes can be used to assess bacterial load in oral cavity and thus oral health status can be evaluated.