Changes in the alveolar process about the teeth in dogs on experimental diets.

Abstract

Summary

1. The condition shown in Fig. 1 represents a non-inflammatory type of parodontoclasia in a dog.

2. The occurrence of the retrograde changes in Fig. 1 in relation to a diet known to produce osseous degeneration, together with a reversal of the type of bone change with a reversal of the dietary fault, postulates that nutrition is an important etiologic factor.

3. The microscopic appearance of the tissues shown in Fig. 1 resembles diffuse atrophy in human tissues as described by Gottlieh. 4

4. The condition described as resulting from the basic diet cccurred without any obvious degenerative changes in the long bones and in an animal apparently in good health, robust and well-nourished. This is in conformity with the occurrence of parodontoclasia in humans who seem to be in perfect health.

5. The freedom from inflammatory reaction of the soft tissues may be due in part to the high resistance to infection char-acteristic of the tissues of the dog, and in part to lack of function. The dogs were fed on pap, requiring practically no mastication. It is possible that vigorous use of the tissues in which the skeletal support was so defective would lead to trauma, hemorrhage, and invasion of micro-organisms.

6. The bone changes represented in Fig. 1, namely, resorption of the crest of the alveolar septum, lateral excavations, opening of the bone marrow spaces to the side, osteoporosis, coalescing of marrow spaces and widening of the sockets of the teeth crownwise, all compare with the appearances familiar to parodontists in roentgenographs of human parodontoclasia.