Lactobacilli and Dental Caries in the Hamster

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Abstract
To see if Lactobacillus counts are indicative of current and possibly future caries activity in hamsters, a micro method for the detn. of these and other organisms in hamster saliva was developed, as well as a simplified method for scoring caries, in which a "grid" is used in the eyepiece of the microscope to measure the area of the carious lesions. No correlation was found between caries experience and oral Lactobacillus counts of 40 adult hamsters maintained on 3 different diets (non-sugar, high-sugar, non-sugar plus water containing 20 ppm. of NaF) for 100 days. A limited no. of offspring of the females on these diets until 21 days of age were then fed a high sugar diet for 100 days. Significant correlation (P=0.007) was obtained between the occlusal scores and Lactobacillus counts taken 1 mo. prior to sacrifice, but not between the occlusal scores and counts taken at the time of sacrifice.