Dental plaque ecology related to caries and periodontal diseases.

Dental plaque consists of a dynamic microbiota which responds to ecological changes. There are major technical difficulties in obtaining representative plaque samples and in dispersing, cultivating, identifying and quantifying the microbial components. Cumulative findings on plaque microbiota associated with dental caries and different forms of periodontal disease support the specific plaque hypothesis. However, the data do not permit designation of any single organism as the distinct aetiological agent. The characteristic pattern is autogenic succesion, in which one or more microbial species alter the plaque environment and are replaced or succeeded by other species.