A NUMBER of discrete chemical agents influence incidence and severity of experimental caries in the rat and hamster. Some of these agents have been clinically tested in the human being. Various fluorides, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate (SLS), lysine, various phosphates, penicillin, and tetracycline reduce caries-activity in experimental animals. Ethylene-diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) and dehydroacetic acid (DHA) potentiate caries activity. In general, trace elements and vitamins do not play any significant role.
Caries Inhibiting Agents
Fluoride.—
Sodium fluoride,1 sodium silico fluoride, sodium phosphorofluoridate,1 ammonium silicofluoride,2 and stannous fluoride3 reduced animal caries-activity when administered posteruptively. Potassium hexafluorophosphate and sodium trifluoroacetate were ineffective when given in the drinking water,1 and sodium fluoride, sodium silicofluoride, sodium phosphorofluoridate, and potassium hexafluorophosphate were ineffective when injected intraperitoneally. Sodium fluoride, sodium silicofluoride, sodium phosphorofluoridate—all equally cariostatic in the rat—were absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract at the same rate.4 Stannous fluoride similarly