Light microscopy investigation of the action of the unsaponifiable residue of vegetable oils on rat periodontal disease induced by a high carbohydrate diet.

Rats, submitted to a sucrose diet for 12 months, were normally fed for another 6 months either with or without addition of the unsaponifiable residue of vegetable oils. It appears that unsaponifiable substances reinforce the collagen fiber network of the periodontium. The presence of a dense supracristal barrier accounts for the lack of an infraosseous pocket and for the limitation of bone resorption despite the high level of the sucrose diet.