Criteria of normality for the vaginal microbiota of healthy women are still a subject of discussion. A decision to assign a study participant to a group of healthy individuals is quite subjective if based on the absence of complaints and physical examination only, which renders study results ambiguous. Below we compare occurrence of the normal vaginal flora and vaginal dysbiosis in women divided into 3 groups according to the examination type (patient’s subjective evaluation of her condition, physical examination, and laboratory tests). We examined 234 women of reproductive age from Yekaterinburg (mean age was 30.3 ± 6.6 years). Microbiota composition and lactobacillus diversity (L. crispatus, L. iners, L. jensenii, L. gasseri, L. johnsonii, L. vaginalis) were evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction using the Femoflor assay and reagent kits by DNA-Technology, Russia. One in 5 women of reproductive age who had no health complaints was found to have dysbiosis. The normal microbiota of those women was dominated mostly by L.iners, while dominant L. crispatus were observed in every third participant. Prevailing L. crispatus were also found in the normal microbiota of 46.2 % of women who were considered healthy based on the doctor’s examination and laboratory tests. Thus, clinical evaluation of the female lower reproductive tract can be compromised by doctor’s subjectivity if not supported by laboratory tests and may overlook vaginal dysbiosis in the patient.