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Dental Caries in the Cotton Rat

XV. The Effect of Tooth Maturity and Minerals on Caries Production by Semi-Synthetic Diets¹

Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Three series of experiments have been conducted to study the effect on caries of (1) tooth maturity and dietary calcium, (2) acidic and basic minerals and (3) other nutrients in a low calcium diet when semi-purified diets were fed to cotton rats.

Decreasing the calcium level resulted in increased tooth decay in the erupted tooth. Withholding the cariogenic diets until the teeth were more mature decreased the caries susceptibility of the teeth.

Acidic inorganic, basic or acidic organic salt mixtures gave no protection against tooth decay. A high level of basic inorganic salts resulted in a marked decrease in tooth decay.

Increasing the fat content to 15% did not protect against the cariogenicity of a low mineral synthetic diet. The addition of lysine or of tryptophan was without effect upon caries production obtained by feeding a low calcium diet. The type of protein tended to modify the cariogenicity of a low calcium diet. The substitution of 66% of the sucrose by mixed carbohydrate did not decrease the caries production caused by a low mineral diet.

We are indebted to Merck and Co., Rahway, N. J. for the crystalline vitamins, to Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, Ill., for the halibut liver oil, and to the Wilson Laboratories, Chicago, Ill., for the liver concentrate N.F. powder.

Manuscript received 4 August 1953.