Effects of maternal caffeine intake during lactation on molar enamel surfaces in new-born rats.

Dams were fed normal laboratory chow until delivery. At birth, the litters were combined, and eight pups were randomly assigned to each dam. Dams with the recombined litters were divided into two groups. Dams of group 1 were fed a 20% protein diet as a control; dams of group 2 were fed a 20% protein diet supplemented with caffeine (2 mg/100 g of the dam's weight). On day 22, the dams of group 2 were anaesthetized with ether. They were injected with 2 iu of oxytocin in order to collect milk. Blood was collected from pups and dams to determine its caffeine concentration. The first and second molars were removed from each pup's mandible and maxilla. Radiographs were taken of 10 randomly selected first or second molars from each group. Four randomly selected molars from each litter were placed in a specially designed chamber and bathed with a constant flow of acid solution to determine the amount of mineral dissolved from the enamel surfaces. The remaining non-acid exposed molars were pulverized in freezer mills. A small portion of this powder was then analysed for the total amount of minerals. No differences were found in the radiographic density of enamel between the groups. The amount of dissolved calcium, phosphorus and magnesium from enamel surfaces in the caffeine group was consistently greater than that of the non-caffeine group in the first molars, whereas, in the second molars, there was no difference between the groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)