ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIA OBTAINED FROM THE ORAL CAVITY OF FEMALE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF CROSS RIVER STATE.

ABSTRACT The occurrence of bacteria in the oral cavity of female students at the University of Cross River State was studied using standard microbiological techniques. A total of ten (10) samples were collected using swap sticks, the samples were well-labeled and transferred to the laboratory for analysis. The result showed that the swap sample gotten from the oral cavity from K1 had the highest bacterial count of 1.80x107CFU/mL, while P2 had the lowest bacterial count of 3.0x106 CFU/mL respectively. The result of the morphological and biochemical characteristics indicated the presence of Porphyromonas spp, Prevotella spp, Streptococcus spp, Actinomyces spp, Lactobacillus spp, and Fusobacterium spp. The highest prevalent bacteria were Streptococcus spp, with a percentage occurrence of 35%, followed by Prevotella spp with 25%, Porphyromonas and Lactobacillus spp had 15% occurrence and the lowest prevalent bacteria were Actinomyces and Fusobacterium with 5% occurrence. The present study showed that some of the microorganisms found in the buccal cavity when present in excess are harmful to systemic health, and as such individuals should practice good oral hygiene to prevent some of these pathogenic microorganisms from causing harm to the body system.