OBSERVATIONS ON INDUCED CARIES IN RATS
IV. INHIBITING EFFECT OF FLUORIDE INGESTED POST-ERUPTIVELY AND PRIOR TO THE CARIES PRODUCING DIET
F. J. MCCLURE M.S., PH.D.1
1 National Institute of Health, U. S. Public Health Service, Bethesda, Maryland
Rats aged 40 days, 100 days, and 200 days were given fluoride prior to placing them on a caries producing diet. There was strong evidence that this prefluoride period brought about an appreciable resistance to rat caries particularly in the youngest rats. Since fluoride was found to have increased notably in the dentin and enamel of the rats' teeth, the effect seems to be due to fluoride incorporated in the adult tooth. It seems reasonable to expect, in the light of these results, that should the adult human tooth be made to acquire fluorine similarly, as a secondary deposit, it might thereby be partially protected against dental caries.
Submitted on October 28, 1942
