Twenty-nine 3-month-old female Wistar rats were labeled by means of a
single intraperitoneal tetracycline injection. Nineteen animals were s
ubsequently ovariectomized, whereas a control group of 10 animals unde
rwent sham operations. All the animals received the basal diet, and 10
of the ovariectomized animals were given an additional dietary xylito
l supplementation (5%). Three months later the animals were killed by
decapitation, and dentinal apposition on the molars was measured. The
results indicate that supplementation of the diet with 5% xylitol had
an attenuating effect on the enhanced dentin formation caused by ovari
ectomy, but the mechanism remains unsolved.