Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Pharmacological Reviews
  • Other Publications
    • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
    • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
    • Molecular Pharmacology
    • Pharmacological Reviews
    • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
    • ASPET
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Pharmacological Reviews

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Fast Forward
    • Latest Articles
    • Archive
  • Information
    • Instructions to Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • FAQs
    • For Subscribers
    • Terms & Conditions of Use
    • Permissions
  • Editorial Board
  • Alerts
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
  • Virtual Issues
  • Feedback
  • Submit
  • Visit Pharm Rev on Facebook
  • Follow Pharm Rev on Twitter
  • Follow ASPET on LinkedIn
Research Article

CARIES-INHIBITING AGENTS

James H. Shaw
Pharmacological Reviews December 1959, 11 (4) 705-741;
James H. Shaw
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

From this survey of the literature pertaining to the etiology of dental caries, the procedures for the estimation of caries-inhibiting properties of potentially effective agents and the results attained from these procedures, three major conclusions can be drawn.

1. There is an unfortunate paucity of well-designed, carefully controlled and conducted investigations, especially in the clinical area. Possibly the single greatest need in future studies on caries-inhibiting agents is the development of a dependable chain of sequence from screening procedures in vitro, through laboratory animals to full-scale clinical trials where the incidence of dental caries is the measured parameter. Although this course seems difficult to attain on the basis of the present frustrations with poor correlations between the three stages, the ultimate gain to be attained more than merits the intermediate tribulations.

2. Unquestionably, the consumption of foods and confections with a low rate of oral clearance which contain readily fermentable carbohydrates is one of the primary causes of dental caries in caries-susceptible populations. Major restrictions in the consumption of these materials with the maintenance of ideal oral hygiene can lead to major reductions in dental caries among the most caries-susceptible populations. Unfortunately numerous obstacles stand in the way of the widespread achievement of this goal, among which are individual preferences and biases, economic status of the family, the greater productivity of carbohydrate foods per unit of land, and last but not least, the difficulty in maintaining the interest of the individual in the faithful continuation of prolonged procedures.

3. On the basis of presently available information, the most effective and best substantiated caries-inhibiting agent is the fluoride ion when ingested continuously throughout tooth development and the posteruptive life of the teeth in order that optimal levels of fluoride may be incorporated into the hydroxyapatite lattice. Fluoridation of public water supplies at optimal and carefully controlled levels offers the best available method for the partial prevention of dental caries at minimum cost for the maximum number of the population. Clearly inferior with respect to effectiveness is the topical application of fluorides to the tooth surfaces after eruption, which process is capable of producing modest reductions in the incidence of dental caries.

Clearly subsidiary at present to the above conclusions are several more obscure areas for which much additional data are needed.

1. Although animal studies indicated a high potential for control of dental caries through the use of penicillin and other antibiotics in the diet, dentifrices containing penicillin have in general proven to be disappointing, especially when used without careful supervision. The benefits to be derived appear to be less than the potential hazards of the development of penicillin-resistant strains of microorganisms and of sensitization on the part of the subjects. Tyrothricin, the only other antibiotic known to have been tested in a dentifrice, after indifferent results in the hamster was reported to be moderately effective in one small clinical study.

2. Dentifrices containing low levels of urea and dibasic ammonium phosphate have had little or no influence on caries incidence. On the basis of present data, which are clearly inadequate for a final appraisal, high levels of urea and dibasic ammonium phosphate in dentifrices appear to have been modestly effective in inhibiting carious lesions. Present preliminary studies with sodium N-lauroyl sarcosinate likewise suggest modest reductions in dental caries incidence.

3. Certain nutritional studies after the teeth are developed and fully erupted offer interesting leads. Lysine deficiency in rats results in a high incidence of smooth surface carious lesions but does not appear to have any significant influence on lesions in the occlusal sulci. Provision of L-lysine in the diet, in the drinking water or by intubation caused major reductions in the incidence of dental caries through what appeared to be a systemic pathway rather than through direct oral contact with the tooth surfaces. Likewise supplements

of soluble inorganic phosphates in the lysine-deficient diet of rats caused major reductions in the incidence of smooth surface lesions. Pyridoxine has also been reported in cursory studies to result in reductions in the incidence of dental caries in the hamster and the rhesus monkey. Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to cause modest postdevelopmental reductions in the incidence of dental caries in children. With the exception of the latter studies on vitamin D, the other three trials have been conducted with experimental animals without application to human populations. In addition, the three nutrients studied are not known to be deficient or borderline by current standards in human populations where the incidence of dental caries is high.

4. Observations on the ability of various dietary manipulations, such as natural versus purified diets and varied calcium-phosphorus ratios during tooth development to alter caries-susceptibility suggest that there are other areas of interest than fluoride ingestion that need to be extended in the laboratory and tested in clinical trials.

PharmRev articles become freely available 12 months after publication, and remain freely available for 5 years. 

Non-open access articles that fall outside this five year window are available only to institutional subscribers and current ASPET members, or through the article purchase feature at the bottom of the page. 

 

  • Click here for information on institutional subscriptions.
  • Click here for information on individual ASPET membership.

 

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Pharmacological Reviews
Vol. 11, Issue 4
1 Dec 1959
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
  • Back Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for sharing this Pharmacological Reviews article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
CARIES-INHIBITING AGENTS
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Pharmacological Reviews
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Pharmacological Reviews.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Research Article

CARIES-INHIBITING AGENTS

James H. Shaw
Pharmacological Reviews December 1, 1959, 11 (4) 705-741;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Research Article

CARIES-INHIBITING AGENTS

James H. Shaw
Pharmacological Reviews December 1, 1959, 11 (4) 705-741;
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

Cited By...

Similar Articles

Advertisement
  • Home
  • Alerts
Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn   RSS

Navigate

  • Current Issue
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive
  • Search for Articles
  • Feedback
  • ASPET

More Information

  • About Pharmacological Reviews
  • Editorial Board
  • Instructions to Authors
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Customized Alerts
  • RSS Feeds
  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions
  • Terms & Conditions of Use

ASPET's Other Journals

  • Drug Metabolism and Disposition
  • Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
  • Molecular Pharmacology
  • Pharmacology Research & Perspectives
ISSN 1521-0081 (Online)

Copyright © 2023 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics