EFFECTS OF IONIZING RADIATION OF ORAL STRUCTURES

I. PILOT STUDIES ON DENTAL CARIES IN THE WHITE RAT

¹ Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Md.

1. A pilot study involving carious susceptible rats of the Naval Medical Research Institute strain kept on a cariogenic and Purina Laboratory Chow dietary regimen and exposed at the age of three weeks to 200 r of x-ray (HVL = .75 mm. Cu) given as total body radiation in a single exposure is reported.

2. The following results were obtained: (a) In the group of irradiated animals kept on the cariogenic dietary regimen, a statistically significant increase of dental caries incidence was found, as compared to the unirradiated controls; (b) in the group of irradiated animals kept on Purina Laboratory Chow, no such results were obtained; (c) the analysis of the weight curves indicates a lesser gain of body weight of the irradiated animals irrespective of the dietary regimen.