It has been generally believed that there is a reduction of dental caries among children and young adults. A reduction of caries in the younger population has led to an increase in number and surfaces of teeth at risk of becoming carious in the older population. Among the factors leading to the increase in the prevalance of caries is the side effects associated with the administration of drugs used for the treatment of depression, cancer, parkinsonism syndromes and a host of other conditions. Decreased salivary flow is a frequent side effect of these drugs which will have an impact on the prevalance of caries. The purpose of this study is to investigate and quantify the extent of caries produced by antisialagogues.
The specific aims of the study are (1) to establish the role of specific antisialagogues in dental caries; (2) to provide data to form a basis to test for relative cariogenicity of antisialagogue agents; (3) to establish the capability to conduct research intended to test for cariogencity of various agents. Fifteen time pregnant rats will be inoculated with S. mutans 6715 and L. casei 4646 and placed on cariogenic diet. When the pups are born they will be inoculated similarly at 18, 19, 20 days of age. At 22 days they will be distributed into the following experimental groups. Noninoculated control rats (A) receiving a balanced diet, non-medicated regime to study the normal growth of the animals without the effects of the experimental variables will be compared with the following groups: (B) controlled rats receiving a cariogenic diet in a Konig Feeder and no medication (C) rats receiving a cariogenic diet in a Konig Feeder with a strong antisialagogue (D) rats receiving a cariogenic diet in a Konig Feeder with a strong antisialagogue plus pilocarpine as sialagogue. At day fifty, the animals will be sacrificed, jaws removed, stained and scored for caries using a digital analysis system. The scores will be analysed and compared for each group. The long term goal is to provide information to the consumer regarding the possible dental risks associated with the use of some drugs. This should in turn lead to improvement of the warning labels on these drugs.
