EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLES AFFECTING CARIES PRODUCTION IN RATS FED DIETS CONTAINING PROCESSED FOODS

¹ National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Bethesda, Md.

In support of previous evidence, data are presented demonstrating the production of dental caries in white rats by feeding a complex diet containing a combination of 4 processed cereal foods and also by feeding a diet containing a roller-processed skim milk powder. Heat-processed cereal foods and skim milk powders are being studied as the cariogenic agents in the diets. Variable factors of the experimental planning, including number of rats per cage and the feeding regimen, affected the caries outcome. Caries developed extensively during the first 30 days following weaning but seemed not to progress after 60 days. An especially interesting type of smooth surface caries occurring most extensively on lower buccal areas was consistently developed in rats fed both these diets.