FIG. 3.

BAR treatment reduces alveolar bone loss in P. gingivalis-infected mice. Animals that were infected with either 10⁹ CFU of S. gordonii DL-1 or 10⁷ CFU of P. gingivalis 33277 did not show a statistically significant increase in alveolar bone resorption over sham-infected controls. However, infection with 10⁹ CFU of S. gordonii followed by 10⁷ CFU of P. gingivalis induced significantly greater bone loss (*, P < 0.01) than sham-infected animals or mice infected with either organism alone. S. gordonii-infected mice that were subsequently challenged with 10⁷ CFU of P. gingivalis in the presence of BAR exhibited levels of bone resorption similar to levels in sham-infected animals, suggesting that BAR inhibited adherence of P. gingivalis to streptococci in the oral cavity.