Mersin University Clinical Research Ethics Committee

Endodontic infections are defined as an infection of the pulp and periapical tissues. This infection is caused by microorganisms that invade the pulp via dental caries or dental trauma. In these mixed population infections, anaerobic bacteria have been reported to be conspicuously dominant and the number of microorganisms per canal may vary. Traditionally, the endodontic microbiome has been identified by culture-based (phenotype-based) techniques. Inability to cultivate approximately 40-55% of bacteria in the endodontic microbiome, bias or inexperience of researchers may limit the results of cultural research. Microbiome-based new generation sequencing (NGS), which was initially used in ecological studies, has been widely used in recent years to identify bacterial diversity using the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene in endodontic infections microbiome, bias or inexperience of researchers may limit the results of cultural research. There are few studies investigating the endodontic microbiome in primary teeth. However, to the best of our knowledge, to date, there is no metagenomic study that investigates the endodontic microbiome of the primary and permanent teeth. It is a still question of whether there is a difference in the endodontic microbiomes during the mixed dentition period when both dentition types can be seen.