A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE EFFECT OF SELECTIVE SALIVARIADENECTOMY AND SELECTIVE SALIVARY GLAND LIGATION ON DENTAL CARIES IN THE RAT

¹ Indiana University, School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, Ind.

An animal study was conducted in order to learn the relative effects that the different salivary glands have on the incidence of dental caries in the rat when individual or paired glands are either surgically removed or their ducts ligated. Total salivariadenectomy significantly increased the incidence of caries when compared to controls, but total ligation was significantly more cariogenic than salivariadenectomy. This difference in caries incidence was fundamentally in the maxillary arch. Hemi-salivariadenectomy or hemi-ligation did not significantly affect maxillary caries incidence in the unoperated arch. The importance of parotid tissue as an important anticariogenic factor is discussed.