Relationship between the populations of Streptococcus mutans in the mouth and feces of conventional Sprague-Dawley rats.

The relationship between oral and fecal S mutans populations has been studied in rats fed high sucrose or glucose diet. All molar teeth were extracted either prior to or following oral challenge with strain 6715. In certain instances this procedure was supplemented with amputation of the incisors and disinfection of the remaining incisor surface area with iodine solution. The results suggest that in rats the colonization of S mutans on the teeth is required for its presence in the intestinal canal as well as the mouth. The significance of the observations has been discussed.