QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fang, M. M. Articles by Kilgore, L. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fang, M. M. Articles by Kilgore, L. T.

Effects of Zinc Deficiency on Dental Caries in Rats^1,2,3,

Department of Home Economics, Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State, MS 39762

The effects of graded levels of dietary zinc on the development and mineralization of teeth and bones and on the susceptibility of teeth to dental caries were studied in young growing rats. Thirty-six weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: 1) zinc-deficient, <1 ppm; 2) 12 ppm zinc; 3) 36 ppm zinc, and 4) 108 ppm zinc. For treatments 2, 3 and 4, rats were pair-fed the quantity of feed consumed by their individual counterparts fed the zinc-deficient diet. After 4 weeks of treatment, growth retardation along with other clinical zinc deficiency signs were observed in rats fed the zinc-deficient diet. The zinc levels in bones and teeth of zinc-deficient rats were lower than those for rats fed supplemental zinc. Increased dietary zinc resulted in greater levels of zinc in bones and teeth, but the levels of calcium decreased. Greater incidences of enamel lesions in mandibular molars were observed in rats fed the zinc-deficient diet than in rats pair-fed zinc-supplemented diets. Furthermore, the effect of zinc deficiency on dental caries of young rats was predominantly at the smooth surfaces of the molars. Dietary zinc may be an important trace mineral in the process of post-eruptive mineralization of the enamel and may reduce the susceptibility of teeth to caries.

KEY WORDS: • zinc deficiency • bone growth • dental caries

¹ Published with the approval of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station as Journal Paper number 4285.

² Presented in part at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 62nd Annual Meeting at Atlantic City, NJ.

³ Aided by a travel grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation administered through the Southern Regional Education Board.

⁴ Present address: Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory, P.O. Box CR, Mississippi State, MS 39762.

Manuscript received 28 September 1979.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Q. Zhang, A. A. Szalay, J.-M. Tieche, E. Kyeyune-Nyombi, J. F. Sands, K. C. Oberg, and J. Leonora Cloning and Functional Study of Porcine Parotid Hormone, a Novel Proline-rich Protein J. Biol. Chem., June 10, 2005; 280(23): 22233 - 22244. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]