Use of the Syrian golden hamster for the induction of intraoral abscesses by sutures contaminated with human subgingival plaque.

Analysis of normal oral flora in 150 cheek pouches of hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) defined the microbial working environment and demonstrated the absence of human oral black-pigmented bacteria. Silk sutures saturated with Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia or subgingival plaque were used to close wounds made in hamster's cheek pouches. Abscesses were formed when sutures had solitary P. gingivalis or other bacteria mixed with P. gingivalis or when P. intermedia was mixed with other bacteria besides P. gingivalis. A concentration of black-pigmented bacteria emanating from 3 x 10(5) colony-forming units/inoculum was required for abscess formation. Six abscesses (14.3%) were developed in association with the presence of other odontopathic bacteria, primarily Fusobacterium nucleatum and Actinomyces viscosus. The hamster cheek pouch with iatrogenic wounds closed with plaque-impregnated sutures is a novel and effective model to study the pathology of wound infections and virulence of human subgingival organisms.