Inhibition of Experimental Caries by Sodium Metabisulfite and Its Effect on the Growth and Metabolism of Selected Bacteria

¹ National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Bethesda, Maryland

Incorporation of sodium metabisulfite into a coarse corn-particle, high-sugar diet resulted in a marked reduction in occlusal fissure caries in white rats. Addition of 0.9, 0.3, and 0.15 per cent sodium metabisulfite reduced caries scores by 77, 64, and 33 per cent, respectively. This compound was also inhibitory to the growth in vitro of a variety of microorganisms, including lactobacilli, streptococci, staphylococci, micrococci, candidae, leptotrichiae, diphtheroids, neisseriae, and veillonellae. Even in subinhibitory concentrations of sodium metabisulfite there was an apparent interference with the glucose metabolism of a streptococcus isolated from the rat. This was manifested in a decreased acid production under conditions of equivalent or slighlty stimulated growth.

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