Dental Caries in the Albino Rat in Relation to the Chemical Composition of the Teeth and of the Diet I. Effect of Prenatal and Postnatal Feeding of High Protein, High Fat and High Carbohydrate Diets

The systemic influence of carbohydrates on teeth

“…However, even if we accept this suggestion, we do not know if it would extend to the influence of the maternal diet on developing teeth. T h e findings of Cremer et al (1953) and Haldi et al (1955) make it seem unlikely. Apart from the possibility that maternal hyperglycaemia might raise the foetal blood sugar level (Huggett, 1954)~ we do not know to what extent the effects of a high-carbohydrate diet during foetal or early postnatal life will be affected by systemic influences in the mother, by the placenta and the mammary glands.…”

“…These differences became progressively reduced over a period of 3 weeks. These results cannot be reconciled with the increased nitrogen contents found in the molars of mature rats on high-sucrose diets (Haldi et al 1955). O'Day pi suggest that 'alteration of the organic matrix would influence mineralization' and hence might influence caries susceptibility.…”

“…I n several laboratories, however, caries incidence in rats has been almost unaffected by the nature of the prenatal diet (McClure, 1951;Haldi & Wynn, 1952;Watson & Muhler, 1959;Shaw & Griffiths, 1963). Strain differences and subtle dietary variations are two of several factors suggested by Shaw & Griffiths (1963) as being probably responsible for the disagreement between investigators.…”