Caries Resistance in Golden Hamsters

¹ Medical Research Council, London, England

Golden hamsters of the NIMR strain possessed a marked resistance to dental caries which appeared to be unaffected by feeding a synthetic diet during tooth development, a reduction in the fluorine content of the teeth, reductions in the calcium and vitamin D contents of the diet after the eruption of the teeth, and the conditions under which the animals were kept. Two other strains of hamsters kept under similar conditions showed comparable resistance to caries.

Loss of function of the major salivary glands in animals receiving a high-sugar, synthetic diet resulted in the production of lesions commencing at the amelo-cement junction and undermining the tooth crown.

Under the conditions of this study, feeding a relatively large quantity of sugar to hamsters over a considerable period of time did not necessarily produce caries.