Howden G F
P N G Med J. 1984 Sep-Dec;27(3-4):123-31.
The island of Aua 143 miles off the N.E. coast of Papua New Guinea has a population consisting of (41%) Roman Catholics who chew betel nut regularly and (59%) Seventh Day Adventists who do not. This provided an ideal opportunity to compare the effects of betel nut chewing on all aspects of dental health against an identical population who did not chew and therefore provided an excellent control. The results of this survey showed, for those of the population who had never lived away from the island, that for betel nut chewers the prevalence of dental caries was 23% whereas for non-chewers it was considerably and statistically significantly greater at 49%. The amount of dental caries as measured by DMFT was also considerably and statistically significantly greater for this group of non-chewers at 1.162 compared with 0.364 for chewers. The above findings confirmed the work of other investigators which at the time of this survey were not known to the author, and this led to a laboratory investigation of the possibility that the betel nut stain may mediate its effect by acting as a chemical or physical barrier against the acid attack of dental caries. Betel nut stained teeth from PNG, which had been extracted due to periodontal disease were prepared with "windows" of enamel from which the betel nut stain had been removed, and their roots were protected by layers of varnish. These teeth were maintained in an "Artificial Caries Medium" at pH's of 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 for several months.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
阿瓦岛位于巴布亚新几内亚东北海岸143英里处，岛上居民包括定期嚼槟榔的罗马天主教徒（41%）和不嚼槟榔的基督复临安息日会信徒（59%）。这为比较嚼槟榔对牙齿健康各方面的影响提供了一个理想机会，与不嚼槟榔的相同人群进行对比，从而提供了一个绝佳的对照。这项调查结果显示，对于那些从未离开过该岛的居民而言，嚼槟榔者的龋齿患病率为23%，而不嚼槟榔者的患病率则显著更高，达49%，且具有统计学意义。以DMFT衡量的龋齿量，不嚼槟榔组也显著更高，为1.162，而嚼槟榔组为0.364。上述发现证实了其他研究者的工作，在本次调查时作者并不知晓这些工作，这进而引发了一项实验室研究，探讨槟榔渍是否可能通过作为抵御龋齿酸蚀的化学或物理屏障来发挥其作用。从巴布亚新几内亚因牙周病拔除的带有槟榔渍的牙齿，制备出去除了槟榔渍的牙釉质“窗口”，其根部用清漆层保护。这些牙齿在pH值为3.5、4.0和4.5的“人工龋介质”中保存了数月。（摘要截选至250词）
