Erosion of deciduous and permanent dental hard tissue in the oral environment

Objectives: The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to determine (b y surfometry) loss of deciduous and permanent enamel and dentine following consumption of a single low pH orange drink for 15 days; and (2) to determi ne (by surfometry) loss of deciduous and permanent enamel and dentine follo wing consumption of the product 2 versus 4 times per day for 15 days. Methods: Sixteen healthy volunteers participated in a single centre, single blind, 2-phase crossover study, conducted according to Good Clinical Pract ice, and employing the validated model described by West and co-workers (Jo urnal of Dentistry 1998; 26:329-335). Results: In all tissues, erosion was progressive over time, the pattern bei ng more linear in enamel than in dentine. In general, erosion of deciduous enamel was greater than that of permanent enamel, though this difference wa s significant only for those specimens exposed to 4 drinks per day. Convers ely, erosion of dentine was generally greater in the permanent tissue, thou gh differences rarely reached conventional levels of statistical significan ce. Increasing frequency of consumption resulted in increased loss of tissu e, but this difference was neither proportional nor consistently statistica lly significant. Conclusions: It is concluded that statistically significant differences in susceptibility of deciduous and permanent enamel to erosion appear to emerg e over time and with increasing frequency of consumption. This is of import ance clinically given the reduced dimensions of the deciduous dentition and the element of 'abuse' of soft drinks by the child population. Further dev elopment of soft drinks with low erosive potential is recommended. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.