Effects of single doses of 1-hydroxyethylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate on the mineralizing front of rat incisor enamel: a microradiographic and scanning electron microscopic study.

The effects of a single dose of HEBP were examined by injecting rats subcutaneously with various doses (0.5, 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg P/kg body wt) and killing them either 2 or 9 days after injection. The maxillary incisors were processed for microradiography and the mandibular incisors for scanning electron microscopy after enzymatic digestion of the enamel organ remains. All doses resulted in a hypomineralized incremental band corresponding to the position of the mineralizing front at the time of injection. At 5 and 10 mg P/kg body wt, a hypomineralized lesion was found throughout the whole thickness of the enamel in an area which corresponded to the stage of late enamel secretion at the time of injection. The surface layer covering this lesion was elevated or disrupted. By scanning electron microscopy, there were three different types of lesions along the enamel surface: a "demarcation groove" corresponding to the initial enamel formation at the time of injection; an "area containing mineral globules" and a "bright band" corresponding to the stages of late secretory and final enamel formation, respectively, at the time of injection. A single injection of HEBP thus interferes with different stages of enamel formation. The findings may be explained as of the physico-chemical effects of HEBP on the mineral phase alone, but a direct effect of the drug on ameloblast function cannot be excluded.