An experimental study of lithium and dental caries in the rat.
Lithium chloride, given via the drinking water, was tested for its effect on dental caries. In a preliminary experiment lithium at concentrations of 0, 5, 20, 40, 60, 125 and 250 microgram/l showed a significant dose-related effect by ANOVA with the lowest smooth-surface scores at 20 microgram Li. Lithium was also used at 20 microgram/l with and without fluoride at 5, 10 and 20 mg/l. No greater effect on caries was seen of the lithium-fluoride combination than fluoride alone. Using 0, 5, 20 and 40 microgram Li/l, and larger groups of rats, a trend for lower caries was seen but the variance of the data was too large to be statistically significant. Despite a number of epidemiologic studies associating low caries prevalence with lithium, animal model research has not demonstrated a clear reduction in caries due to lithium added to the drinking water.
D000818:Animals; D002712:Chlorides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005459:Fluorides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008094:Lithium / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018021:Lithium Chloride; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D002712:Chlorides; D008094:Lithium; D018021:Lithium Chloride; D005459:Fluorides