The inhibitory effect of the continual administration of 1-hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-bisphosphonate (HEBP) (8 mgP/kg/day) through a mini osmotic pump on dentin mineralization was examined in relation to the diurnal rhythm of the rat and compared with that of daily injections of same amounts of HEBP known to inhibit dentin mineralization.
  After daily injections of HEBP, a series of alternating rows of mineralized and non-mineralized dentin islands appeared in the newly formed portion of the crown-analogue of rat incisors. A similar phenomenon occurred under the continual administration of HEBP in rats raised either under regular environmental photofraction or constant lighting conditions. The average distance between the adjacent mineralized dentin islands was 521.0 ± 51.3 μm in the injected rats.
  After continual HEBP administration, this was 426.0 ± 13.2 μm and 416.5 ± 19.4 μm under ordinary photofraction and constant light, respectively. Although the pattern of individual mineralized dentin islands tended to become irregular in nocturnal rats, no statistical difference was noted between the two values. Rows of mineralized and non-mineralized dentin islands also appeared in the root analogue dentin. No sign of the intermittent inhibition of mineralization was recognized in mesodermal hard tissues other than dentin in the HEBP-affected animals.
  These data implicate the presence of intrinsic cycles in dentin mineralization at the growing end of rat incisors independent of environmental photofraction as well as the ameloblast function.