Comparison of dentin apposition and dentinal caries progression in the mandibular and maxillary molars of the rat.

To show that the rate and the rate of reduction of dentin apposition are about the same in mandibular and maxillary molars, 23 Sprague-Dawley rat pups were randomized into 2 groups on the day of birth. During lactation half of their dams received a standard rodent diet; the other half, a diet containing 41% sucrose. At the age of 3 weeks the pups were weaned, weighed, given an intraperitoneal injection of oxytetracycline hydrochloride, and inoculated with oral Streptococcus sobrinus. During the experiment the pups received the same diet as their dams during lactation. After 5 weeks the pups were decapitated, their jaws sectioned sagittally, the first and second molars photographed, and the areas of dentin apposition and dentinal caries measured planimetrically. The area of dentin formation was about the same in maxilla and mandible in the first molars, but slightly smaller in the mandibular second molars of the control group. The sucrose diet reduced dentin apposition significantly in both jaws, although the areas were significantly smaller in the mandibles than in the maxillae. Caries did not affect the rate of dentin apposition. The areas of caries lesions were smaller in the maxillary molars of both diet groups. The results show that the hypothesis of equal rate of dentin apposition in mandible and maxilla was not valid because the reduction, caused by sucrose, was more prominent in mandibular molars for unknown reasons. The reduction of dentin apposition was reflected as acceleration of caries progression among the diet groups and the jaws. It was concluded that the response of the pulpodentinal complex to sucrose and dentinal caries during the primary dentinogenesis cannot be seen as a formation of reactionary or reparative dentin, as with adult rats.