Molecular techniques in endodontic diagnosis

Studies using predominantly culture-dependent methods have resulted in the establishment of a set of species thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of periradicular lesions. More recently molecular methods have extended the data that support the role of many bacterial species in periradicular diseases and have also expanded the list of suspected endodontic pathogens by detecting species of difficult or even impossible cultivation. As a consequence the endodontic microbiota has been clearly redefined by molecular methods.