Effect of controlled dietary consistency and cage environment on the rat mandibular growth.

Forty Fischer strain inbred albino rats, evenly divided by sex, were obtained at 9 days of age. The animals were weaned at 21 days and randomly divided into the four experimental groups. Two variations on dietary consistency, hard and soft diet, as well as two variations on cage environment, normal and no biting surfaces, constituted the experimental groupings. The experimental period consisted of 16 weeks during which the animals were raised under the designated conditions. At the end of the experimental period the animals were killed with carbon dioxide, and the entire mandible, and both femurs, were dissected free. Weight and volumetric analysis were carried out in a standard fashion on the cleaned specimens. Area and linear measurements were performed and analyzed with a specially designed computer program. The results showed that there was sexual dimorphism in the Fischer rat both with respect to body weight and the weight, volume, area, and linear measurements of the mandible. The effects of dietary consistency had a greater influence on mandibular ramus size and form than did those caused by alteration in cage environment. The posterior region of the mandible, in association with the heavy muscles of mastication, was affected more by dietary consistency than was the anterior region. The entire region of the mandibular ramus acted as an area of adaptation and growth. The findings of this study indicate that dietary consistency has a small but significant effect on mandibular size in specific measurements. The cage environment used in this experiment did not limit function to the extent necessary to see measurable changes in mandibular measurements.