Poster presented by WALTHAM oral health team at the British Veterinary Dental Association Scientific Meeting, Birmingham UK, April 2017

1. Identifying and characterising the bacteria associated with
canine and feline periodontal disease
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BACKGROUND
Periodontal disease is a serious concern in both dogs
and cats and if left untreated can result in significant
pain and loss of dentition. It is accepted that bacteria
present in dental plaque are the aetiological agents of
periodontal disease, although the specific organisms
involved in the initiation of the disease and the basis
of the subsequent events are unclear.
EARLY PLAQUE COLONISATION OF THE
CANINE TOOTH
Through analysis of supra-gingival plaque samples
collected 24 and 48 hours after a descale and
polish in combination with in vitro biofilm assays it
was possible to identify the first bacterial species
to colonise a fresh canine tooth surface and build
models of early plaque.4
1 WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 4RT, UK
2 The Veterinary Dental Surgery, Surrey, UK
Corrin Wallis1, Ian Davis1, Alison Colyer1, Oliver Deusch1, Ciaran O’Flynn1, Niran Patel1, Lisa Milella2,
Julie Croft1 Steve Harris1, Lucy Holcombe1
BACTERIA IN CANINE PERIODONTAL
DISEASE
Next-generation sequencing techniques were
used to profile the bacterial species in subgingival
plaque from dogs with healthy gingiva, gingivitis
and mild periodontitis (<25% attachment loss1).2,3
Over 200 client-owned dogs were included in the
survey which found that:
– more than 80% of the taxa identified in dogs were
novel
– only 16% were shared with the human oral
microbiota
– Plaque from healthy gums was dominated by Gram
negative bacterial species whereas Gram positive
anaerobic species predominated in disease
– Porphyromonas was the most abundant genus
across all health states
BACTERIA IN FELINE PERIODONTAL DISEASE
Using a similar approach to the dog study the
bacterial species present in sub-gingival plaque from
92 client-owned cats with either healthy gingiva,
gingivitis or mild periodontitis (<25% attachment
loss1) were assessed.5,6
– Logistic regression analysis identified bacteria from
specific genera which were significantly associated
with health, gingivitis or periodontitis.
– Porphyromonas was the most abundant genus in all
health states and the Peptostreptococcacae family
the most abundant in gingivitis and mild periodontitis.
– The species identified were very similar to those
observed in the corresponding health state in dogs.
DOGS, CATS & HUMANS: THE DIFFFERENCES
• Dog and cat plaque bacterial communities are
much more similar to each other than either are to
human plaque.
• The key bacterium in human dental caries,
Streptococcus mutans is completely absent from
dog and cat plaque and other Streptococcal
species are rarely seen (<1% cf. ~30% in human7).
1Wiggs & Lobprise, 1997 Veterinary Dentistry, Principles and Practice 152. 2Dewhirst et al., 2012 PLoS ONE 7:e36067. 3Davis et al.
2013 PLoS ONE 8:e83158. 4Holcombe et al., 2014 PLoS ONE 9(12):e113744. 5Dewhirst et al., 2015 Veterinary Microbiology 175:294-
303. 6Harris et al., 2015 PLoS ONE 10(11):e0136986. 7Griffen et al., 2012 ISME Journal 6:1176-1185.
CONCLUSION
The marked differences between canine, feline and human plaque bacteria mean that products targeted at
human oral bacteria may not be suitable for preventing gum disease in dogs. Oral care products need to be
tested on the relevant organism (dog/cat) or on bacterial species cultured from canine or feline plaque.
Hypothesized spatio-temporal model of in vitro early canine oral
biofilm communities. Interaction networks for four primary
colonizer species. Dotted lines represent tentative interactions.
Proportions of Gram positive bacterial species for each sample by
health status; health (green), gingivitis (orange) and mild periodontitis
(PD1) (red). Black bars indicate mean proportion of bacterial species
that are Gram positive with 95% confidence intervals.