Inhibition of experimental dental caries by antibiotics.
A variety of antibiotic and chemotherapeutic agents were tested for their ability to inhibit the development of dental caries in Sprague-Dawley rats receiving the drugs in a coarse-particle sucrose-containing diet. Drugs which inhibit gram-positive microorganisms were effective inhibitors of caries, whereas agents which are active solely against gram-negative bacteria did not inhibit caries development. In vivo efficacy of the agents tested generally, but not invariably, paralleled in vitro inhibition of the growth of Streptococcus mutans strain FA-1, an organism which was isolated from carious Sprague-Dawley rats and which is known to induce caries in gnotobiotic Sprague-Dawley rats. Caries was significantly inhibited when 1-ephenamine penicillin (20 units/mg) was administered intermittently in the diet, 1 day per week or 1 week of every 4 weeks, but protection against caries was greatest when the same amount of the drug was fed continuously.
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004037:Diet, Cariogenic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000187:drug effects
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents