Dental microbiota is associated with different types of organisms with dentition including humans and is responsible for many oral diseases all over the world. Bacteria in a dental biofilm are important also in other diseases, i.e., endocarditis, pulmonary fibrosis, and arthritis, and some findings predict the connection of dental microbiota with cancerogenesis. Not all oral bacterial representatives are pathogenic or potentially pathogenic. Dental biofilm consists of numerous different bacteria that may have beneficial characteristics for good condition of dental and oral health. Searching for bacteria or their products with the beneficial effect is important in the development of new biologically based strategies for the prevention or treatment of oral and dental diseases. For searching of potential probiotic candidates are useful methods that could map phenotypic or genotypic characteristics of studied bacteria. This chapter is focused on the spectrum of these basic methods searching for beneficial bacteria and their products.
Part of the book: Bacterial Biofilms
Periodontal disease is one of the most common health problem affecting dogs. The disease is more prevalent in small breeds and brachycephalic breeds compared to large breeds, and incidence increases with advancing age. In first stage it affects only the gingival tissue and causes gingivitis. It later develops into periodontitis which involves changes in other periodontium tissues. Main etiological agents of periodontal disease are pathogenic bacteria of dental biofilm, and products of their metabolism. In human, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola and Tannerella forsythia play a key role in the etiology of periodontal disease. Also, there are many other candidates as human periodontal pathogens, including Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescens, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Parvimonas micra, Eikenella corrodens, Capnocytophaga gingivalis, Eubacterium nodatum and Campylobacter rectus. Since periodontal diseases in dogs are similar to human diseases in terms of disease progression and clinical manifestation, we can assume their common etiology. This chapter is focused on review about canine dental biofilm and about members of biofilm as potential causative agent of canine periodontal disease.
Part of the book: Bacterial Biofilms