Caries, periodontal disease, and occlusal wear were studied in rats with short-term (one month) and long-term (12 months) untreated alloxan diabetes and in age-matched control rats. Standard laboratory diet and water were given ad libitum. Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli were naturally occurring inhabitants of the oral bacterial flora. In short-term diabetic rats, there was less dental plaque in the gingival region of the first mandibular molar than in control rats, but the density of leukocytes in the junctional epithelium was increased. Interdentally, the gingival papillae were intact, and the prevalence of foreign material was as low as for the controls. No caries lesions were seen. The proportion of the oral flora which was lactobacilli was positively correlated with the blood glucose level. In long-term diabetic rats, there was more periodontal breakdown than in the age-matched control rats. The periodontal breakdown was always associated with large interdental impactions of foreign material. Caries was seen only in the diabetic rats and in sites with interdental impactions. The decay was shown to start in the cementurn at the cemento-enamel junction. The amount of alveolar bone loss, but not the amount of dental caries, was related to the degree of hyperglycemia. Occlusal wear of the molars in long-term diabetic rats was significantly increased as compared with that in the controls.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berglund, O.; Hallmans, G.; Nygren, C.; and Tal-Jedal, I.-B. (1982): Effects of Diets Rich and Poor in Fibres on the Development of Hereditary Diabetes in Mice, Acta Endocrinol100:556-564.
2.
Bernick, S.M.; Cohen, D.W.; Baker, L.; and Laster, L. (1975): Dental Disease in Children with Diabetes Mellitus , J Periodontol46:241-245.
3.
Bissada, N.F.; Schaffer, E.M.; and Lazarow, A. (1966): Effect of Alloxan Diabetes and Local Irritating Factors on the Periodontal Structures of the Rat, Periodontics4:233-240.
4.
Bowen, W.H. and Pearson, S. (1985): Rodent Model to Study Root Surface Caries and Periodontal Disease, J Dent Res64 (Sp Iss):No. 1066.
5.
Carlsson, J. (1967): Presence of Various Types of Non-hemolytic Streptococci in Dental Plaque and in Other Sites of the Oral Cavity in Man, Odont Revy18:55-74.
6.
Cianciola, L.J.; Park, B.H.; Bruck, E.; Mosovich, L.; and Genco, R.J. (1982): Prevalence of Periodontal Disease in Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus (Juvenile Diabetes), J Am Dent Assoc104:653-660.
7.
Cohen, D.W.; Friedman, L.A.; Shapiro, J.; Kyle, G.C.; and Franklin, S. (1970): Diabetes Mellitus and Periodontal Disease: Two-year Longitudinal Observations. Part I, J Periodontol41:709-712.
8.
Dalstein, J.M.; Ribes, G.; Campo, P.; and Loubatieres-Mariani, M.M. (1982): Effect of Sodium Dichloroacetate on Dental Caries in Diabetic Rats, Horm Metabol Res14:438-439.
9.
Daniell, H.W. (1983): Postmenopausal Tooth Loss. Contribution to Edentulism by Osteoporosis and Cigarette Smoking, Arch Intern Med143:1678-1682.
10.
Dziatkowiak, H.; Kowalska, M.; and Denys, A. (1982): Phagocytic and Bactericidal Activity of Granulocytes in Diabetic Children, Diabetes31:1041-1043.
11.
Elgeneidy, A.K.; Stallard, R.E.; Fillios, L.C.; and Goldman, H.M. (1974): Periodontal and Vascular Alterations: Their Relationship to the Changes in Tissue Glucose and Glycogen in Diabetic Mice, J Periodontol45:394-401.
12.
Fuchs, G.; Gawell, B.-M.; and Lidhem, B.-M. (1974): Quantitative Determination of Low-molecular Carbohydrates in Foods by Gas-Liquid Chromatography, Swedish J Agric Res4:49-52.
13.
Gislen, G.; Nilsson, K.O.; and Matsson, L. (1980): Gingival Inflammation in Diabetic Children Related to Degree of Metabolic Control, Acta Odontol Scand38:241-246.
14.
Glavind, L.; Lund, B.; and Löe, H. (1968): The Relationship Between Periodontal State and Diabetes Duration, Insulin Dosage and Retinal Changes, J Periodontol39:341-347.
15.
Glickman, I. (1946): The Periodontal Structures in Experimental Diabetes , NY J Dent16:226-251.
16.
Golub, L.M.; Nicoll, G.A.; Iacono, V.J.; and Ramamurthy, N.S. (1982): In Vivo Crevicular Leukocyte Response to a Chemotactic Challenge: Inhibition by Experimental Diabetes, Infect Immun63:1013-1020.
17.
Gusberti, F.; Grossman, N.; and Loesche, W. (1982): Puberty Gingivitis in Insulin-dependent Diabetics , IADR Progr & Abst61: No. 199.
18.
Holdeman, L.V.; Cato, P.; and Moore, W.E.C. (1977): Anaerobic Laboratory Manual, 4th ed. Blacksburg: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
19.
Hagg, E. (1974): Renal Lesions in Rats with Long-term Alloxan Diabetes , Acta Path Microbiol Scand (A) 82:199-210.
20.
Imai, A. and Kurihara, Y. (1984): Endogenous Infection in Mice with Streptozotocin-induced Diabetes. A Feature of Bacterial Translocation, Can J Microbiol30:1344-1348.
21.
Irons, W.B. and Schaffer, E.M. (1966): Circadian Rhythms in the Oral and Gingival Epithelium of the Rat, Periodontics4 :316-321.
22.
Keyes, P.H. and Gold, H.S. (1955): Periodontal Lesions in the Syrian Hamster. I. A Method of Evaluating Alveolar Bone Resorption, Oral Surg8:492-499.
23.
Korec, R. (1967): Experimental Diabetes Mellitus in Rat. Bratislava : Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
24.
Luna, L.G. (1968): Manual of Histologic Staining Methods of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
25.
Manouchehr-Pour, M. and Bissada, N.F. (1983): Periodontal Disease in Juvenile and Adult Diabetic Patients: A Review of the Literature, J Am Dent Assoc107:766-770.
26.
Matsson, L. and Koch, G. (1975): Caries Frequency in Children with Controlled Diabetes , Scand J Dent Res83:327-332.
27.
McNair, P.; Madsbad, S.; Christiansen, C.; Christensen, M.S.; Faber, O.K.; Binder, C.; and Transbol, I. (1979): Bone Loss in Diabetes: Effects of Metabolic State , Diabetologia17:283-286.
28.
McNamara, T.F.; Ramamurthy, N.S.; Mulvihill, J.E.; and Golub, L.M. (1982): The Development of an Altered Gingival Crevicular Microflora in the Alloxan-diabetic Rat, Arch Oral &iol27:217-223.
29.
Page, R.C. and Schroeder, H.E. (1982): Periodontitis in Man and Other Animals, Basel: Karger.
30.
Phillips, H.B. and Ashley, F.P. (1973): The Relationship between Periodontal Disease and Metacarpal Bone Index, Br Dent J134:237-239.
31.
Ramamurthy, N.S.; Siegel, M.; Iacono, V.J.; and Golub, L.M. (1979): Leukocyte Response in the Gingival Crevice of the Diabetic Rat, J Periodont Res14:289-296.
32.
Ramamurthy, N.S.; Zebrowski, E.J.; Baker, C.; and Golub, L.M. (1973): Alloxan Diabetes and Reduced Bone Density in Rat Mandible, Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol5 :614-620.
33.
Reuterving, C.-O. (1986): Pilocarpine-stimulated Salivary Flow Rate and Salivary Glucose Concentration in Alloxan Diabetic Rats, Acta Physiol Scand (in press).
34.
Rosen, S.; Sreebny, L.M.; Hoppert, C.A.; Hunt, H.R.; and Bachem, E. (1958): Studies on Salivariadenectomized Hunt-Hoppert Caries-resistant and Caries-susceptible Rats, J Dent Res37:824-836.
35.
Savin, J.A. (1974): Bacterial Infections in Diabetes Mellitus, Br J Dermatol91:481-487.
36.
Schneir, M.L.; Ramamurthy, N.S.; and Golub, L.M. (1984): Extensive Degradation of Recently Synthesized Collagen in Gingiva of Normal and Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats, J Dent Res63:23-27.
37.
Scully, C.M. and Lehner, T. (1979): Opsonization, Phagocytosis and Killing of Streptococcus mutans by Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes in Relation to Dental Caries in the Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta), Arch Oral Biol24:307-312.
38.
Sjostrand, F.S. (1967): Electron Microscopy of Cells and Tissues, Vol. 1, Chapter 8. London: Academic Press.
39.
Stahl, S.S. and Dreizen, S. (1964): The Adaptation of the Rat Periodontium to Prolonged Feeding of Pellet, Powder and Liquid Diets, J Periodontol35:312-319.
40.
Svanberg, G.; Lindhe, J.; Hugoson, A.; and Grondahl, H.-G. (1973): Effect of Nutritional Hyperparathyroidism on Experimental Periodontitis in the Dog, Scand J Dent Res81:155-162.
41.
Sweeney, E.A.; Shaw, J.H.; and Rubin, R.P. (1962): Effect of Alloxan Diabetes on Fluoride Retention and Caries Incidence in Rats, J Dent Res41:866-874.
42.
Sznajder, N.; Carraro, J.J.; Rugna, S.; and Sereday, M. (1978): Periodontal Findings in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Patients, J Periodontol49:445-448.
43.
Takai, N.; Uchihashi, K.; Yoshida, Y.; Kakudo, Y.; Yoshio, I.; and Iwata, T. (1983): Dysfunction in Rat Salivary Gland due to Streptozotocin-induced Diabetes, J Dent Res62:468, No. 18.
Weisberger, D.M.D.; Nelson, C.T.; and Boyle, P.E. (1940): The Development of Caries in the Teeth of Albino Rats Following Extirpation of the Salivary Glands, Am J Orthodont Oral Surg26:88.
46.
Wilton, J.M.A. (1982): The Role of Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes in the Control of Subgingival Plaque Formation, J Periodont Res17:506-508.
47.
Wolf, J. (1977): Dental and Periodontal Conditions in Diabetes Mellitus. Academic Dissertation, University of Helsinki, Proc Finn Dent Soc73 (Suppl 6).
