Role of interbacterial adherence in colonization of the oral cavities of gnotobiotic rats infected with Streptococcus mutans and Veillonella alcalescens.

The role of interbacterial adherence in the colonization of the rate oral cavity was investigated with aggregating and nonaggregating strains of Veillonella alcalescens and Streptococcus mutans. V. alcalescens V-1 and S. mutans M-7 rapidly formed large stable aggregates when mixed in vitro. Aggregates could be reduced in size by sonication, but they could not be completely dispersed, indicating that bonding between the organisms was strong. V. alcalescens V-1 did not coaggregate with S. mutans C67-1, and V. alcalescens OMZ193 did not coaggregate with either S. mutans strain C67-1 or M-7. Osborne-Mendel rats monoassociated with either S. mutans C67-1 or M-7 were inoculated with veillonellae, molar teeth were removed at 2 h and at 14 days, and the number of veillonellae was determined. At 2 h post-inoculation there were 600 times as many colony-forming units of V. alcalescens V-1 adherent to the teeth of animals monoassociated with S. mutans M-7 when compared with animals monoassociated with the nonaggregating S. mutans C67-1. The number of colony-forming units of V. alcalescens V-1 was 1,000 times greater than the number of nonaggregating V. alcalescens OMZ193 in S. mutans M-7-infected animals. Similar results were obtained when teeth were samples 14 days after inoculation. Veillonellae inoculated into the mouths of germfree animals rapidly disappeared from tooth surfaces.