A Comparison of the Salivary Protease Activity in the Harvard and Hunt-Hoppert Caries-Resistant and Caries-Susceptible Rats

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“…122 Evidence from experimental caries in rats suggests that there is an approximately 50 per cent genetic contribution to the development of caries. [123][124][125] Advances in the understanding of dental caries in humans have been limited. Inbreeding studies and investigations of inter-racial breeding have suggested no genetic effect on the DMFT i n d e x , 6 0 , 1 2 6 , 1 2 7 suggesting that recessive genes are unlikely to play a major role in susceptibility to cari e s.…”

Studies on Experimental Calculus Formation in the Rat. XI. Relation to Diet and Selected Salivary Constituents

“…Differences in strain and in diet have been reported to produce changes in salivary chemistry as reviewed recently by Dawes and Shaw. 14 For example, differences in electrophoretic pattern of the salivary proteins have been reported in two strains of albino rats by Dawes and Shaw, 14 and by Sweeney, et al 15 Willett, et al 16 ' 17 reported that salivary protease activity varied with the strain of rat employed, and Dawes and Shaw 14 showed no change in salivary amylase.…”

A critical review: an overview of genetic influence on dental caries

“…These results strongly suggest the influence of genetic differences between mice strains in controlling caries progression. In a Harvard study also comparing susceptible and resistant lines, caries lesions were almost ten times more extensive in susceptible mice than in resistant animals at the age of 110 days (Willett et al , 1958). However, when the mice were exposed to a high cariogenic diet, the difference between the two lines decreased (Larson, 1965; Larson et al , 1968).…”