Overview: Capnocytophaga are abundant in dental plaque, making up 10% of the community in supra- and sub-gingival dental plaque sampled from healthy people (Eren et al. 2014). They make up 1-2% of the community on tonsils and throat, and lower amounts at other oral sites. There are 22 species of Capnocytophaga in the human oral microbiome, many of which have not yet been formally named.

Ecological role/importance in health and disease: Capnocytophaga are capnophilic, requiring high concentrations of carbon dioxide for growth; they therefore are often located adjacent to other bacteria such as Streptococcus spp. that produce CO2. The most abundant Capnocytophaga in dental plaque are C. gingivalis/C. granulosa, C. leadbetteri, and C. sputigena, each of which has >2% mean abundance and >85% prevalence in both supra- and sub-gingival plaque (Eren et al. 2014). Other, currently unnamed taxa can be sporadically abundant but with lower prevalence. In the subgingival plaque microbiome, C. gingivalis, C. ochracea, and C. spuigena formed part of the "green complex" together with Eikenella corrodens, Campylobacter concisus, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Socransky et al. 1998).