Dental Caries in Two Strains of Rats Fed Diets of Two Degrees of Fineness

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Abstract
Two inbred strains of rats have been compared for their susceptibility to dental caries when fed a diet of natural foods. The Hawaii strain, inbred for more than 25 years, is very resistant to dental caries compared to the Navy strain developed at Bethesda, Md. The Navy strain retained its caries-susceptible characteristics when transported to and bred in Hawaii. For rats of each strain it was found that the number of carious teeth, number of carious areas, and a score representing the extent of the carious areas, were all significantly smaller after feeding a diet ground to pass a 48-mesh sieve than when the same diet was passed through a 28-mesh sieve.