Of the DEPARTMENT of ZOOLOGY 3H P a Rtia L F
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Dental caries in mammals as related to diet and tooth crown structure Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Negley, Henry Hull, 1937- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 29/09/2021 04:31:51 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319286 DENTAL CARIES IN M SM ^S AS RELATED TO DIET AND TOOTH CROI® STRUCTURE . by Harry. H.0 Negley^ III A Thesis g'ubmitted to the Facial^- of the DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY 3h Partial FulfilM ent of the Requirements For the Degree of MAST® OF SCIENCE ' 3h th e Graduate,: College THE UNIWRSITf OF ARIZONA 1 9 6 0 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: LuwL MS. LENDELL COCKRUM Associate Professor of Zoology BMTAL CARIES 3H SiSBMIS AS BELAfED TO DIET #D TOOTH CROm STRUCIIBE by Harry H» Hegley^ III ABSffiACT ■ Although dental caries in mammals have bem investigated using laboratory animals^ few studies have be# made concerning their inci dence and distribution in f&ld mammalsa .Laboratory investigations have revealed three important factors influencing dental caries g in fluence of salivary gland secretions § dietary history# and genetic strain s* - Feral mammals show great variation in their diet* Diets are influenced by the interaction; of many factors including the morphology of the mammal? its distribution^ age<, and individual food prefer* ences* Basically three major categories of diet types are recognised# herbivorous (eat plants^ grasses^ etc*)# carnivorous (eat mea^ and om nivorous (eat a combination of the other two)* 3h mammals the majority of dental caries occur in the molar teeth* . Structurally six basic types of mammlian molar teeth are recog nized# tubercular^ sectorial^ bmodont^ selenodont^ lophodont^, and mymecophagouso ; ' ■ 1 i i 7m this study I examined the teeth of 3^243 wild«taken ^ ■■ ~v.v ■ . • : : mammals^ representing nine different orders and thirty-eight different families and fomd only nineteen specimens with caries» 3h other words only 0*58% of the'individuals examined had dental caries.» All nineteen of th e in d iv id u als w ith ca rie s were members of the Order Carnivora and seventeen of them were members of the Family Ursidae (bears)» The other two. carious mammals were in the closely related Family Procyon- . idae (raccoons and allies) and were eoatimmdis (Kasm ) 0 . She type tooth crown structure does not appear to be related ::to-cause or prevention of dental caries but is merely a modification for best chewing the food of the basic diet. The low incidence of dental caries in wild mammals appears to be the result of several factors g (1) Many are so short-lived that caries do not have an op portunity to develop and ( 2 ) in those th a t a re medium to long-lived^ diet appears to be more important than tooth structure, the food ' preferences of an animal may have ,a genetic basis or may result: from learning from the parent. Through either one of these .processes*;- and possibly both, a mammal becomes either caries resistant or caries susceptible. ' Page IS^Fod-ilCi^XOB,' # a a o ^ o o o # ti , # o d -o d 4- q , # ® 0 . 4 A q # d 1 D XCbS <i o q o o q o q o 4 q o 4 q q - q o q q o 0 4 e 4 0 o 4 0 4 Tooth Crow StrilGtmre q qvq q $ 4 ;q q q: q q q q q * q q 4. q q . 20 Sp © C3J3i©3ilS eSSSlXSied q • q o q q q q q o q q q q 4 4 o q o q q 4 o 2 5 PXSO^SSXOh q q q o q q q q » d q . q q 4 4 4 4 .4 4 4 4 4 4 q # - 4 2S XffXte3?atnz°e oxte^. o q © © © © © © © © © © © 4 © © © # © © © © © 3 ^ i v ../i. H f f f OF FIGURES AID TABW. Page Figure 1 Classification of diets „ » o » # » » « »0 » » <, » ■ 9 ■ Figure 2 « Basic molar patterns ^,o » . * » « + * , * * -» * * . 23 Figure 3 « Modifications of basic molar patterns „ „ * * , # 24 Table 1 -» Results of the present study and of the study by M all (1940 ^ o o o s o o <& a d o _o o 'O o d o d o o 29 Table 2 ~ Comparison of dental caries in bears as reported by Hall (1945) and the present study 0 0 6 <, 0 0 6 30 INTRODUCTION TMis study was undertaken to determine the relationship betwe& the incidence of dental caries in feral (wild) mammals living in natteal conditions and their diets and/or the structure of their teeth® Dental caries have plagued man since the time of his remote ancestorSo !%e history of the need for and the development of modern dental techniques has been recounted many times and need not be repeated here* The Index to.Dental Literature (published by the American Dental ■ Association) and Eothsteim ( 1 9 5 8 ) will furnish additional references' for those.; interested in this subjeeto ■ In recent years the cause of deSital caries has been the. subject of much Investigationo Many of these" ^hirestigations have been carried W t usin g la b o ra to fy mammals as experim ental subjectso Mammals u s e d . Include the Syrian hamster (Gricetus auratus)9 lorway rats (Rattus no rv eg icu s )9 and cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus)® These animals have been used for dental research for three reasons8 their availability! the fact that their molar teeth have growth patterns similar to those in man! and finally, under certain conditions^ carious lesions are formed which resemble -those found in mmn (Sognnaes81955)« Although the present study is restricted to a survey of the in - eidence of caries in feral mammals$ three aspects of the laboratory . experiments appear to bear on the interpretation of this study„ These arei. effect of diet! effect of saliva! and genetic studies® General eoactysioas reaefaeid eoneexmiag the effect: ef diet o b . dental caries inelitde that caries susceptibility appears to depend tpon the dietary history of the animals during the period of tooth , develop^ meat*; In rats fed by stomach tiibes^ thw eliminating food from coming into contact with the oral cavity<, no caries were prodneed„ Biis seems to indicate that certain food substrates are necessary in the oral cavity in order for caries to be prcdneedo There are also indications that caries production depends tpon the fora in whidi sugar is ingested and, : ■ the age at which the animals are first introduced to this dietary component (Sognnaesg 1955) 0 \ ' Removal of the; salivary glands greatly increases dental'caries 0 Hiis must indicate conversely that salivary secretions are of benefit in the prevention of dental caries (Sognnaesg 1955)0 An examination of hass^sters showed that in animals free of caries,, pH readings of the . Saliva.ranged from 6 »S to 9ti9ti in fifteen carious lesions^ the saliva te ste d gave mean readings of pH 6„5 in co n tra st to mean values of pH 8o0 obtained on sound surfaces of the same teeth (Johansen and Keys in ■Soganaesg 1955)@ . • .■■■■ ' . • . ■ The question of whether or not there is an inheritance factor in the development of caries has been investigated in the albino rats (lattus)a . Through phenotypic selection,, progeny testing^ and intensive inbreeding^ two. strains of. rats were producedo (Me was highly susceptible' to caries and the other was highly resistant to caries.„ • The results showed that the average number of days required-to produce the first carious cavity in a-lower molar tooth for the strain of susceptible rats .decreased - from 57 days for the second generation to 35 days for the twenty-fifth generation,, Die average caries time for the resistant strain .of rats : ■ increased from 116 days for the second generation to 505 days for the s even teen th' ■ gm era tion- ' (Himtg .Hoppert^ and Rosen in Sognnaesg 1955). However;, the target throngh which genetic factors act on tooth decay has not been established (Sognnaesg 1955 ) 0 ' f: 'A survey of the literature reveals, that few studies have been ; made concerning caries in feral popnlatldns of mammalso This study consists of (1) a literature survey of the diets of the’various mamals in their native habitat; (2 ) a consideration (from an examination of the pertinent literature and from an lamination of the pertinent features) of. 'the factors influencing the .dietof: maaimais and ■ (3) an ^ ©siamination of . the teeth of specimens of wild-taken mammals c The specimens examined include. m#ibers, of all of the living orders of the Class Mammalia with tiie .exception of: the .Primates^ Cetaceanss : and iSirens, '-.