162 PROTOZOAN PARASITISM 



HABITAT AND EFFECTS 



Transmitted, no doubt, in the active stage by prac- 

 tically direct passage from person to person, such 

 as by kissing, possibly by the use of common drink- 

 ing cups, and the placing in the mouth of objects from 

 the mouth of another, the organism becomes seated 

 in the recesses of the gums and teeth. There, under 

 favorable conditions, it multiplies and accumulates. 

 The conditions for its establishment are apparently 

 pyorrhoea alveolaris, gingivitis, caries of the teeth, 

 and possibly other conditions where there is an ac- 

 cumulation of inflammatory exudate and debris. 

 Both Hogue and Hinshaw failed to find it in normal 

 mouths. 



That is its most severe indictment. The general 

 conception, however, seems to be that it is a scaven- 

 ger, living on bacteria and possibly other foreign 

 materials of the accumulations in which it is found 

 and that it causes no harm to its host. 



The fact of its presence in such a large percentage 

 of such conditions, and only then, makes it advisable 

 that it be held in mind until we know more about the 

 genesis of pyorrhoea and kindred diseases of the gums. 



TREATMENT 



Prevention of the infestation would undoubtedly 

 demand care to avoid taking into one's mouth any 

 substance contaminated with the saliva of another 

 and abstainence from mouth to mouth contact. 



