Prenatal Influences on Tooth Development

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Abstract
33 virgin Wistar strain rats were mated with normal males of proved fertility. Following conception, 5 of the animals were used as controls and the remaining 28 grouped according to stages of pregnancy and subjected to artificially induced fever by means of an incubator equipped with ventilation and humidity controls. Six rats were treated in this manner during their 1st trimester of pregnancy, 10 during their 2d, and 12 during their 3d. The animals from each group were kept in the incubator for periods of 12, 24 and 48 hrs., and their rectal temps. maintained within a range of 102 to 105[degree]F. Four nonpregnant rats were similarly subjected to fever for 24 hrs. In 15 cases resulting in delivery of viable litters, the young were sacrificed at 1, 7, 21, 40, and 60 days of age, and their jaws prepared for histologic study by the double embedding technique. Similar prepns. were made from the 5 controls and their litters, the 4 nonpregnant febrile rats, and 13 pregnant animals (and their contained young) dying during the course of the expt. Striking changes in amelogenesis were noted in the febrile rats ranging from manifestations of ameloblastic dysfunction to complete cellular degeneration with arrest of enamel matrix formation. Although pulpal hyperemia was a rather consistent finding, no significant changes were noted in the dentin or odontoblasts. Similar abnormalities in amelogenesis were noted in the young of the mothers rendered pyrexic during their course of pregnancy. Additional disturbances were found in the dentin and odontoblasts. The findings suggest that the prenatal period has a far greater influence on fetal dental development than is generally suspected.