Plaque accumulation and microbial community changes are important causes of periodontal disease. Cleaned plaque microorganisms will reattach to form biofilms, but the recovery and outcome of plaque microbial communities in different periodontal health states remain unknown. In this study, we tracked the biofilm remodeling process in 206 dental plaque samples from 40 healthy periodontal, gingivitis and periodontitis volunteers at 6 time points before and after supragingival scaling. We found that microbial communities of different periodontal states changed asynchronously during the process, and the more severe the periodontal disease condition, the more lagged the recovery of plaque microorganisms to their original state after cleaning; this reflected a higher degree of plaque development in periodontitis samples. The plaque index and bleeding index were significantly correlated with plaque recovery, especially the recovery of bacteria such as Abiotrophia and Capnocytophaga. Meanwhile, we found that the microbial community structure of different periodontal health states was most similar at the Day 3 after plaque cleaning, and the communities gradually differentiated and developed in different directions. Abiotrophia and other bacteria might play an important role in determining the development trend of plaque biofilms. The discovery of specific time points and bacteria was of great value in clarifying the pathogenesis of periodontal disease and in seeking targets for prevention and treatment.

牙菌斑堆积和微生物群落变化是牙周病的重要原因。清洁后的牙菌斑微生物将重新附着形成生物膜，但不同牙周健康状态下牙菌斑微生物群落的恢复和结果仍然未知。在这项研究中，我们追踪了 40 名健康牙周、牙龈炎和牙周炎志愿者的 206 个牙菌斑样本在龈上洁治前后 6 个时间点的生物膜重塑过程。我们发现，不同牙周状态的微生物群落在此过程中发生异步变化，且牙周病病情越严重，牙菌斑微生物在清洁后恢复到原始状态的时间越滞后；这反映了牙周炎样本中牙菌斑发展程度较高。菌斑指数和出血指数与菌斑恢复显着相关，尤其是Abiotropicia和Capnocytophaga等细菌的恢复。同时，我们发现不同牙周健康状态的微生物群落结构在牙菌斑清洁后第3天最为相似，并且群落逐渐分化并向不同方向发展。厌氧菌和其他细菌可能在决定斑块生物膜的发展趋势中发挥重要作用。特定时间点和细菌的发现对于阐明牙周病的发病机制、寻找预防和治疗的靶点具有重要价值。