XI. The effects of vitamins C deficiency on tooth structure in guinea-pigs

Abstract

Much attention has been given in the last few years to the effects of deficiency of vitamins D and A on dental and parodontal structure; extended clinical tests have been carried out; and the deduction has been drawn that a deficiency of these factors is a not infrequent cause of such common dental ailments as caries and pyorrhoea alveolaris. Vitamin C has received relatively little consideration in this connection; in fact doubt is expressed as to whether it has any practical significance for clinical dental disease, and difference of opinion exists even on the fundamental issue as to whether a deficiency of the vitamin is in any way injurious to the teeth. Thus, on the one side, Mrs. Mellanby (1929) found that lack of vitamin C had no influence on tooth structure in puppies, and concluded it was “improbable that the actual structure of human teeth is greatly affected by a deficient intake of vitamin C.” At the other extreme Howe (1920, 1921, 1923) claimed that by feeding guinea-pigs on a scorbutic diet he had been able to produce with regularity all of the better-known dental lesions seen clinically in humans, including alveolar resorption, spongy gums, pockets and pus formation, together with caries and irregularities in the teeth themselves. He drew the deduction that vitamin C deficiency is an important factor in the aetiology of human dental disease. It will be generally conceded that further work is necessary to clear up the present unsatisfactory position.