Effects of iron salts in sucrose on dental caries and plaque in rats.

Anaemia caused by iron deficiency and dental caries are still among the most prevalent diseases in some developing countries. Anaemia can be prevented by iron fortification of food. Previous studies demonstrated that iron-sucrose, which has been used for prevention of anaemia, reduces the incidence of caries in rats. The aim of the present study was to compare the influence of ferrous sulphate and ferric glycerophosphate co-crystallized with sucrose on the incidence of dental caries in rats. Forty-eight desalivated rats were caged in a programmed feeder and received their essential nutrition by gavage. The animals were fed 17 meals per day at hourly intervals of 88 parts/10(6) Fe++ or Fe co-crystallized with sucrose. Plain sucrose and calcium glycerophosphate with sucrose were used as control groups. Both ferric- and ferrous-sucrose meals reduced the incidence of smooth-surface and sulcal caries in rats. Stain formation, organic acid production and acidogenic activity of dental plaque in animals receiving iron-sucrose meals were also investigated. Ferric glycerophosphate did not induce extrinsic staining on the tooth surface. The concentration of organic acids did not differ significantly among the groups. The acidogenic activity of plaque in animals receiving either of the iron-sucrose meals tended to be lower than that of the control groups. The possibility that iron-sucrose might reduce the prevalence of two major public health problems, dental caries and anaemia, makes this preventive approach extremely attractive for additional investigation.

Assessing the cariogenic potential of some infant formulas, milk and sugar solutions.

Using a desalivated rat model, the authors found that several commonly used infant formulas had significant cariogenic potential. Sucrose was by far the most cariogenic and cows' milk the least cariogenic of all the products examined. The data show that dental practitioners and other health care professionals should discourage the use of sugar in baby bottles and provide information on which formulas are least likely to induce caries when continuous bottle feeding is unavoidable.

Shirley Glasstone Hughes Memorial Prize for Dental Research: an evaluation of the output 15 years after the Trust's inception.

In May 2005, a decision was taken by the Shirley Glasstone Hughes (SGH) Foundation trustees to suspend investments in research for one year, to allow a review of the outcomes of SGH research funding over the past 15 years. Money was instead directed to the BDA Research Unit, to employ a staff member who would conduct the evaluation under the supervision of the BDA Scientific Adviser. The evaluation focused on three aspects of the research produced: 1) relevance to primary dental care, 2) scientific quality and impact on the research community, and 3) grant recipients' feelings about SGH funding and whether the mechanisms of supporting research could be improved. The methods used included questioning BDA members about the research they found of interest and relevance, checking research outputs against standardised quality criteria, examining impact factors and citation rates (relative to the funding received) and questioning grant recipients about their experience with SGH funding. The results implied that the fund had largely been spent on research themes felt to be relevant to practice by BDA members. In addition, the publication rate, publication quality, impact and citation indices demonstrated the SGH research work to be largely of high quality. Recipients of the fund indicated several factors which might improve the experience of receiving funding and possibly also improve the research output. It can be concluded that the SGH funds have largely been well spent but that it is worth considering implementing changes which would make the research findings of greater relevance to clinical practice.

Effects of frequency of exposure to iron-sucrose on the incidence of dental caries in desalivated rats.

World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.5 billion people have anemia caused by iron deficiency that could be prevented by fortification of food; sugar, for example, has been used successfully as a vehicle for dietary iron fortification. The inclusion of 88 ppm of iron (as FeSO4) co-crystallized with sugar has been shown to reduce the incidence of caries by more than 30% when rats are fed 17 meals daily at hourly intervals. The purpose of the present study was to determine the influence of varying the number of daily exposures to iron on caries in desalivated rats. Four litters of 12 Sprague-Dawley rats were desalivated when aged 25 days and caged in a programmed feeder. All animals received their essential nutrition by gavage and 17 meals of sucrose daily. In Group A, 6 meals contained 88 ppm Fe; in Group B, 3 meals continued iron: Group C had 2 meals, and in Group D, no iron was added. The investigation continued for 3 weeks. Smooth-surface and sulcal (in parentheses) caries scores were: Group A 60.8 (39.4); Group B 72.4 (41.3); Group C 73.1 (41.3), and Group D 92.9 (49.2). Caries scores in all the iron groups were statistically lower than in the control group. Severity scores followed a similar pattern. Thus, as few as 2 daily exposures to iron-sucrose had a significant effect on caries development; therefore the use of iron as a cariostatic agent is worthy of further exploration. The concept that two major public health problems could be alleviated by the addition of iron to sucrose is indeed attractive.

Influence of iron alone or with fluoride on caries development in desalivated and intact rats.

Sugar is used as a vehicle for iron fortification in communities where anemia is prevalent. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between caries experience and iron concentration in sugar fed to rats subjected to a severe cariogenic challenge. Desalivated and intact animals were assigned to 4 different diet subgroups, 3 receiving iron sucrose (350, 175 and 88 ppm Fe) and a control group. The influence of iron sugar combined with 10 ppm F in drinking water was explored in an additional study. Iron reduces the incidence of smooth-surface carries in desalivated rats at concentrations as low as 88 ppm Fe. In addition, a combination of iron and fluoride reduced the incidence of dental caries in our rats.