Chemical and structural composition of black pigmented supragingival biofilm of bovines with periodontitis

ABSTRACT: Bovine periodontitis is a multifactorial disease primarily associated with a potentially pathogenic microbiota housed in the oral biofilm of animals. Biofilms are organized structures, in which the constituents coexist in symbiosis, already described as a predisposing factor to periodontitis in other species. The objective of the present study was to characterize the structure and chemical aspects of the bovine black pigmented supragingival biofilm using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), respectively, and determine its relationship with bovine periodontitis. Eleven premolar teeth from different animals were evaluated; five non-pigmented samples and six samples with black pigmented biofilms were initially submitted to SEM, and three areas of these samples were selected for EDS. The structure of the pigmented biofilm was more complex and irregular because of a higher content of mineral elements. The semi-quantitative EDS data indicated an association of iron (p