THE EFFECT OF HONEY ON HUMAN TOOTH ENAMEL IN-VITRO OBSERVED BY ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY AND MICROHARDNESS MEASUREMENTS

Various fruit juices with relatively low pH are known to have erosive effects on human tooth enamel in a reasonably short time. Honey, also with a relatively low pH, could do the same, but scanning electron mic roscopy showed no erosion of enamel by honey over a period of 30 min, neither did Knoop microhardness tests show any deterioration of enamel structure. The absence of any effect could be only partially attribut ed to the calcium, phosphorus and fluoride levels in honey.