The Oral Environment

This chapter provides an overview of the environment in which oral microbes live. It describes host defense factors that oral microbes face and the mechanisms the microbes use to overcome them to successfully colonize the mouth. Oral diseases with a microbiological component are among the most common conditions worldwide, and almost every member of the human population is afflicted at some stage of their lives with an oral disease. Physical and host parameters affecting oral microbial colonization includes temperature, pH, oxygen, mechanical abrasive forces, fluid flow, host age, gender, ethnicity, and genetic background. Dental calculus is calcified dental plaque, composed primarily of calcium phosphate mineral salts deposited between and within remnants of formerly viable microorganisms that form the dental biofilm. Gingival crevicular fluid is an inflammatory exudate that collects at the gingival margin or within the gingival crevice.