Dental caries in the molar teeth of rats III. Bio-assay of sodium fluoride and sodium lauroyl sarcosinate as caries-inhibitory agents

Abstract

T h e caries-inhibitory e ffec t o f sodium lauroyl sarcosinate in the drinking w ater at a 0.5 p er cent level, and o f 50 ppm fluorine as sodium fluoride in the drinking w ater, was studied in SpragueD aw ley rats fed the M cC lu re-F olk cariesinducing form ula 635 diet. Sulcal, proxim al and buccolingual lesions w ere assessed. Sodium lauroyl sarcosinate re­ duced carious activity prim arily along buccolingual surfaces but not in sulcal areas or in the m ore susceptible proxim al areas o f m axillary teeth. Sodium fluoride reduced carious activity in all susceptible areas o f the molar dentition. I t was e ffe c ­ tive even w hen carious activity was high and its concentration was low. N ow that the effectiveness o f inhibitors can be studied sim ultaneously on all types o f ex ­ perim ental lesions, the tim e m ay be ap­ proaching w hen the relative effectiveness o f caries-inhibiting agents can be p re ­ d icted with m ore confidence.