Few subjects in medical history have given rise to more frequent controversies than the inflammatory diseases of the gums. The classification, nomenclature, pathology, even the anatomy of the parts involved have afforded material for protracted argument. Probably no phase of the subject has been more keenly discussed than the etiology, and during recent years much of this interest has centered on the part played by bacterial invaders.
The probable relationship of pathogenic bacteria the development of pyorrhea has been recognized for several decades. Mallasez and Galippe1 (1884), Black2 (1887), Miller3 (1889) and Kirk4 (1898) were some of the early investigators of its bacteriology. A variety of organisms were described, none of which could be specifically associated as the causative factor. Probably the first to ascribe etiologic significance to any particular micro-organism was Arkövy5 (1904), who attributed acute cases of alveolar suppuration to streptococcic infection..
A