THE EFFECT OF DIET ON THE DEPOSITION OF GLYCOPROTEIN IN THE TEETH AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO DENTAL CARIES IN THE SYRIAN HAMSTER

¹ Department of Physiology, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Md.

Three generations of Syrian hamsters were maintained on sugar-rich, sugar-deficient, and control diets for a period of 100 days and then sacrificed. Their teeth were saved and examined for dental caries and then quantitatively analyzed for the presence of glycoprotein.

The caries scores were then correlated with the glycoprotein findings, and certain relationships became apparent. Animals maintained on the low carbohydrate diet exhibited less caries than the animals maintained on the high carbohydrate diet and, also, showed a lower glycoprotein content in the teeth.

Control animals also showed less caries and less glycoprotein than the sugar-rich group, but these animals demonstrate slightly higher results in both factors when compared to the sugar-deficient group.

These results indicate that there is a positive relationship between the presence of glycoprotein in the teeth and the incidence of dental caries and that the quantity of glycoprotein present in the teeth varies with dietary factors prevailing during the time of tooth formation.

The laying down of glycoprotein apparently plays a significant role in the development of caries in the hamster. It is our hope that this will constitute data of value in stimulating further investigation of the role of diet and glycoprotein deposition in human caries.

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