FUSIFORMS IN THE INFANT MOUTH

¹ College of Dentistry, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, Calif.

Gram-negative rods and filaments, believed to be fusiforms, were cultivated almost invariably from the mouths of babies 2 to 5 months old, and sometimes from younger ones, including newborn infants. Typical anaerobic colonies of fusiforms were isolated from the mouths of 58 per cent of 18 babies without dentition, as well as from those with teeth. The gingival crevice is not an essential habitat for the oral fusiforms, as stated in the literature.