Table 2. Levels of bacteria (mean) according to laboratorial technique (qPCR and culture) before (T0), 2 (T1) and 6 minutes (T2) after dental scaling within a given periodontal diagnosis.

Laboratorial technique	Diagnosis	N	T0		T1		T2
qPCR			Total bacterial load (primer universal)	Levels of P gingivalis (qPCR)	Total bacterial load (primer universal)	Levels of P gingivalis (qPCR)	Total bacterial load (primer universal)	Levels of P. gingivalis (qPCR)
	Gingivitis	27	7,353.2	0.2	45,512.4	0.9	48,372.7	0.3
	Periodontitis	27	18,898.9	0.5	76,442.3	0.6	71,172.1	512.5
Mann-Whitney (p-value)			<0.0001	0.38	<0.0001	0.0874	<0.0001	0.0036
Culture	Diagnosis	27	Aerobic bacterial levels	Anaerobic bacterial levels	Aerobic bacterial levels	Anaerobic bacterial levels	Aerobic bacterial levels	Anaerobic bacterial levels
	Gingivitis	27	7.4	0.6	23.7	6.6	100.7	5.7
	Periodontitis		113.8	142.3	521.5	744.5	467.5	782.4
Mann-Whitney (p-value)			<0.0001	0.0046	<0.0001	0.0099	<0.0001	0.0035

Mann-Whitney test (quantitative polymerase chain reaction - qPCR vs. culture for gingivitis and periodontitis). A difference was statistically significant when p<0.05