Published: 6 March 2015 ; The oral microbiome of humans and animals will cause oral disease within their lifetimes and include a large number of endogenous cariogenic, periodontal and other opportunistic pathogens. Studies over many decades have attempted to determine which bacteria are involved in oral diseases. Earlier studies used exclusively culture-based methods. Now culture-independent methods are being used to determine the composition of the microbiome in health and disease. There have been limited numbers of studies of the marsupial microbiome and this report covers some of the research of those studies. ; Philip S Bird, Wayne SJ Boardman, Darren J Trott and Linda L Blackall