Editor’s Note: For now over 75 years, The Baylor Line has been publishing vivid storytelling from across the Baylor Family. I don’t think our archives full of deep, inspirational features should live solely on shelves, so we are bringing them back to life in BL Classics. This January – February 1962 Classic highlights the research conducted by Baylor University College of Dentistry, advancing children’s dental health.
Since many dental problems begin early in life, it is not surprising that a considerable amount of research being done at the Baylor University College of Dentistry is directed toward the dental problems of children. While better methods are still being sought for preventing and controlling tooth decay, the interest of dental scientists at Baylor has been focused on studying the cause of disease, the method of development of disease and treatment of other oral conditions, such as malocclusion, periodontal disease and tumors. Dr. Myers Thornton and the writer are presently studying ankylosed teeth in children. The word “ankylosis” refers to baby teeth that are not shed in a normal fashion at the proper time, but rather become attached to the jaw bone and are resorbed at an abnormally slow rate if at all. Ankylosed teeth often produce malpositioning of adjacent teeth, and these malposed teeth (teeth not in correct alignment) are usually more susceptible to in correct alignment) are usually more susceptible to dental caries (tooth decay) and gingival (gum) disease. These ankylosed teeth are examined under a microscope and are being compared to normally-shed teeth to determine how they are fused or connected to the jaws.
The effect of tranquilizing drugs on apprehensive children receiving dental treatment is being studied by Drs. James Bailey, Paul Taylor, and Jack G. Bishop. Before receiving dental care a group of children will take tranquilizers and a second (control) group will unknowingly use placebo pills. During the course of dental treatment the children’s reactions will be recorded by a type of polygraph machine. This machine is capable of pickling up minute changes in respiration, blood pressure, and skin resistance, so that any quieting effect of tranquilizing drugs upon the children will be readily demonstrable.
With the permission of officials in the Dallas School District, we are studying the incidence and severity of gingival disease in children in several Dallas schools. The schools have been selected as representatives of three socio-economic levels in the community—low, middle, and high. Studies in foreign countries and in other parts of the United States have revealed that children in a low economic level have more disease of the gums than those in middle or high economic levels. However, these studies have been made of children of different economic labels who have not resided in the same community, and there is some evidence that the prevalence of gingival disease varies according to geographical areas. The Dallas study will furnish information on the extent of gingival disease in school children of low, middle, and high socio-economic levels who reside in the same community.
There are many other research studies being carried out at the College of Dentistry by the Departments of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Anatomy. For example, the effect of several fluoride compounds on protein and carbohydrate formation is being investigated by Dr. Martin Wagner. Using fructose, a simple sugar, labelled with radio-active carbon as the substance to be synthesized into carbohydrates and proteins, Dr. Wagner will note the intermediate and end products of this process in the presence of low and high concentrations of fluoride salts.
The development of new blood vessels following surgery on the gum tissue is being investigated by Dr. Joe H. Smith and Homer Dorman. Surgical procedures on this tissue, similar to those performed on human patients, will be carried out on monkeys. The circulation of the healed tissues will be studied microscopically several months later using India Ink as the staining solution.
The manner in which certain oral bacteria directly or indirectly produce disease of the gums and invade blood vessels is being studied by Dr. Sol Haberman. In a study of patients with chronic gingival disease, Dr. Haberman and co-workers found that three types of cocci and four types of rod-like organisms were the bacterial forms most frequently isolated from infected gums. In another study of a group of patients at the College of Dentistry receiving treatment for gingival disease, it was noted that approximately 35 percent developed a transient bacteremia (temporary blood infection). This percentage could be reduced to 5 percent with pre-treatment and post-treatment antibiotic administration. Studies are now underway to determine if the various microorganisms found in human cases of disease of the gums can produce a similar condition in experimental animals with some regularity.
Information on the mechanisms of certain types of bone transplants is currently being obtained by Dr. J. Lester Matthews. Using radio-active carbon and phosphorus, as well as special techniques for studying tissues, Dr. Matthews and colleagues are studying the fate of these transplants in albino rats. A second study in progress by these investigators involves the use of an electron microscope to detect vascular changes in various body organs following treatment with special drugs.
A physical anthropological study of two tribes of extinct Indians of northeastern Texas is being conducted by another member of the Department of Anatomy, Dr. Norman Biggs. Many of the skulls of one of these tribes show numerous dental abnormalities such as occlusal and periodontal disturbances. Dr. Biggs is also studying the tensile strength of several types of connective tissues and joint ligaments in certain laboratory animals.
During the past five years the College of Dentistry has received approximately $315,000 in research grants to conduct studies in both the clinical and basic science fields. Recently, studies have been completed on such subjects as: the effect of high speed dental drills on tooth structure, the vascular flow of the jaws, and the effect of aging and smoking on the soft tissues of the mouth. Many of these research projects require the cooperation of various disciplines.
