Antioxidant Inhibition of Experimentally Induced Caries in Hamsters

¹ Institute of Stomatological Research Sias Laboratories, Brooks Hospital Brookline, Massachusetts

Experimental caries induced in male and female hamsters maintained ad libitum on a high-carbohydrate diet were inhibited when 0.03 per cent propyl gallate (PG), 0.01 per cent nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), 0.001 M sodium azide (NaN₃), and 3.0 per cent hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) were ingested ad libitum in the drinking water. 0.01 per cent butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) added directly to the high-carbohydrate diet also inhibited caries. When calculated by the number of teeth involved, PG and BHA inhibited caries by 25 per cent, NDGA by 74 per cent, NaN₃ by 99 per cent, and H₂O₂ by 100 per cent in both males and females. When calculated by the number of tooth surfaces involved, PG and BHA inhibited caries by 60 per cent in the males and by 36 and 44 per cent, respectively, in the females; NDGA by 83 per cent in the males and 80 per cent in the females; NaN₃ and H₂O₂ by 99 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively, in both males and females. It is concluded that a metabolic defect with respect to the tooth is induced within hamsters maintained on the high-carbohydrate diet and that this defect is partially corrected in the presence of PG and BHA, is almost completely corrected by NDGA, and is completely corrected by NaN₃ and H₂O₂ at the concentrations and mode of administration employed for these reagents.