Black‐pigmented Bacteroides associated with broken‐mouth periodontitis in sheep

Abstract

Samples of subgingival plaque were obtained from healthy and broken‐mouth periodontitis‐affected sheep. Deeper pockets were found in affected sheep and these were associated with increased levels of asaccharolytic, black‐pigmented Bacteroides (BPB) species, including trypsinpositive BPB similar to B. gingivalis . It is suggested that these organisms could have a similar role in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease in sheep to that proposed for BPB in certain human periodontal diseases.