[Dosage and cariostatic effect of mutanase in a rat experiment].

In caries tests on rats, mutanase (mu-1,3-glucanglucano-hydrolase) was admixed in different quantities to a cariogenic diet. The animals were fed eight times a day with a feeding machine for 25 days. A highly significant inhibition of fissural caries was achieved by concentrations of over 50 MU per gram of diet. As a simultaneous plaque reduction was not observed, the effect of the enzyme appears to be due to reduced adhesion or colonization capacity of streptococcus mutans strains in the fissures.