Dental structures and diet composition ‐ experimental study

• Published in: The FASEB journal 2007, Vol.21 (6), p.A775-A775
• Main Authors: Marques, Rodrigo Farinha, Moreno, Helena, Viegas, Carlos A., Silvério Cabrita, A. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0892-6638; 1530-6860
• DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.21.6.A775-a

Dental structures may change in response to noxious stimuli. In this study we evaluate the possible changes related to diet composition. Two groups of twenty Wistar male rats, four weeks old, were used in this experiment. One group was maintained with no manipulation – control group. The other was submitted to the administration of a diet very rich in sucrose and poor in proteins and lipids during four weeks – test group. After four weeks the animals were sacrificed. The first molar was observed by microscopy and the volume density of three compartments: periodontal ligament, hard tissues and root canal, were calculated using morphometric software. It was evaluated the relations among the different compartments. By histology there was no significant morphologic differences between the two groups. By morphometry only the relation between periodontal ligament and the whole compartments shows significant differences, lower in the control group. These results suggest that the diet composition may contribute to modifications of the dental structures. The dental structures compartments are not equally affected, what may be a consequence of different turnover of each compartment’s tissue.