Potential cariogenicity of Lycasin 80/55 before and after repeated transmissions of the dental plaque flora in rats.

Five successive experiments, with rats fed ad libitum on diets containing sucrose or Lycasin 80/55, were carried out. In experiment I, the rats were inoculated with Streptococcus mutans alone or with Strep. mutans in combination with Actinomyces viscosus. In three successive transmission experiments (II, III, IV), the rats were inoculated with plaque of the rats of the preceding experiment. The rats of experiment V were inoculated with the original strains or with plaque derived from experiment IV. After five successive transmissions of the plaque flora, no alterations were demonstrated in the numbers and percentages of Strep. mutans and A. viscosus or in the fermentation rate of Lycasin by the plaque flora in vitro. Lycasin 80/55 was virtually non-cariogenic compared with sucrose (p less than 0.001) irrespective of whether the rats were inoculated with Strep. mutans alone or in combination with A. viscosus, with the original strains or with plaque from the preceding experiments with rats on a Lycasin 80/55-containing diet.

In vivo study of temporary filling materials used in endodontics in anterior teeth.

The sealing efficacy of temporary endodontic filling materials was tested in vivo. The following materials were studied: Cavit, Caviton, gutta-percha, three types of zinc phosphate cement, and zinc oxide and eugenol. All the materials were tested in the access cavity of the same anterior tooth in ten different patients for a minimum of 1 week. Seepage was determined bacteriologically by culturing a cotton pellet which was sealed into the access cavity. On the basis of the quantity of microorganisms grown anaerobically, differentiation was made between no leakage, minor leakage, and gross leakage. Findings with Cavit and Caviton are essentially the same and show no or minor leakage in the vast majority of tests. Gutta-percha showed gross leakage in six out of eight tests. Phosphate cements showed no leakage in more than two thirds of the tests.