Pulp response to and cariogenicity of Lactobacillus casei in monoinfected gnotobiotic rats.

The maxillary molar pulps of germ-free rats were mechanically exposed and suspensions of a strain of freshly grown Lactobacillus casei were applied to the pulp wounds. The pulps were left open to the oral environment, and the animals were maintained within the isolator until death. In the majority of teeth, pulp necrosis was evident and apical inflammation was present in 40% of the specimens. The remaining monoinfected animals were bred and the litters were placed on a 46% sucrose diet to determine the cariogenicity of the test strain of L. casei in the mandibular molars. The organism proved to be noncariogenic. The effects of mechanical exposure of the maxillary molars in these animals were similar to those observed in the direct-inoculation study, with the exception of a reduced incidence of apical inflammation.