Effect of Restricting the Hours of Feeding upon Dental Decay in the Rat

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Abstract
When susceptible rats were allowed access to a highly cariogenic diet according to a regimen established by a pilot experiment, there was a highly significant statistical reduction in dental caries as judged by three criteria — the number of decayed teeth, the number of carious areas and the caries score — compared with the littermate rats fed ad libitum. The restricted rats ate about 80% as much food as the unrestricted rats. In one experiment those on restricted feeding had better teeth than littermate rats fed a semi-natural diet; in the second experiment, the differences were not statistically significant. Three groups of rats on the restricted regimen were given supplements of cookies, cooked green soybeans, or whole fresh milk during the morning and afternoon hours when the food cups were removed from the cages. The group given cookies had poorer teeth than those given soybeans or milk (P < 0.01). Although the group fed cookies had significantly more caries than the restricted group, there was not sufficient improvement in the teeth of those fed the milk or soybeans to be statistically significant compared with the group fed the cariogenic diet on a restricted schedule. These experiments support those of others in proving that the hours the teeth are in contact with a cariogenic diet is of prime importance in promoting or allaying dental decay.
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