CLINICAL, RADIOLOGICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL FINDINGS IN CANINE PERIODONTITIS

The clinical and radiological features and bacterial flora were studie d in 16 small dogs with periodontitis. Gingival retraction, bleeding a nd alveolar bone loss were the most typical findings, whereas deep per iodontal pockets were infrequently found. Periodontitis was frequently localised to certain regions of the dentition, most often in premolar s or incisors. However, the deepest periodontal pockets were found in canine teeth. The mean pocket depth was 2.0 +/- 0.4 mm (mean +/- SD). The mean percentage of the sites with a pocket depth of more than 3 mm was 10.5 per cent. The mean occurrence of gingival bleeding after pro bing was 22.7 +/- 12.7 per cent and the mean percentage of furcation l esions in multirooted teeth per dog was 46.0 +/- 23-5 per cent. Tooth mobility was seen in 26.7 +/- 13.3 per cent of the teeth. In each case subgingival plaque samples were taken for microbiological examination from two teeth with periodontitis and one healthy tooth. There was a clear difference between the diseased and healthy pockets in the detec tion frequency of the following Gram-negative anaerobes: pigmented, no n-pigmented slime producing and fusiform rods. The counts of Gram-nega tive pigmented, other non-pigmented and fusiform rods as well as Gram- positive cocci were clearly higher in the diseased pockets. Pigmented Gram-negative rods (mainly asaccharolytic, Porphyromonas-like species) were the most common finding in both diseased and healthy pockets.