TOOTH GROWTH IN EXPERIMENTAL SCURVY

Abstract

1. The incisor teeth of guinea pigs have a constant rate of growth in health. 2. Deprivation of Vitamin C causes the teeth to cease growing. Readministration of the vitamin restores the growth. 3. Administration of small amounts of antiscorbutic substance results in rates of growth roughly proportional to dosage. 4. Under standard experimental conditions used in the testing of foodstuffs for antiscorbutic value, the rate of tooth growth would appear to be a precise indication of the degree of scurvy, being more delicate than the Sherman score, and more constant as well as more simple, than the Höjer method. 5. Stress in terms of usage appears to exaggerate the scorbutic lesions in the teeth.