Ximena Moreno Ruiz; Carmen Gloria Narváez Carrasco & Verónica Bittner Schmidt

Summary

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of refreshing drinks on the mineralization of tooth enamel surface in extracted permanent dental pieces. For this an experimental study was conducted where the sample was composed by 50 permanent premolars extracted as an entire piece. These pieces were randomly distributed in three study groups: soft drinks, juices and nectars, and purified and flavored mineral waters, in addition to a control group. The teeth were carefully washed and stored in artificial saliva at 4º C. Before starting the exposure to refreshing drinks, all dental slices were tested in order to measure their baseline mineralization using the Diagnodent 2095 equipment (Kavo®). The exposition consisted in one minute of contact with the drink corresponding to each group, followed of three minutes in artificial saliva. This cycle was repeated 5 times in 20 minutes time. This procedure was carried out once daily, for one month, and every day new refreshing drinks were used. Once the assay finished, the premolar mineralization was measured again, in order to make comparisons between groups. The soft drinks group caused the highest demineralization on the teeth enamel surface (p=0.000), followed by the juices and nectars group (p=0.000). In the purified and flavored mineral waters group, no effects were found on the mineralization of the enamel surface. A demineralizing effect on the enamel surface of dental pieces was observed only in the groups of soft drinks and juices, where Coca-Cola® caused the highest effect, followed by Coca-Cola light® and then Kapo®.

KEY WORDS: erosion, enamel, mineralization, demineralization, soft drinks, diagnodent.

How to cite this article

MORENO R. X.; NARVÁEZ, C. C. G. & BITTNER, S. V. In vitro effect of refreshing drinks on the mineralization of tooth enamel surface in extracted permanent dental pieces. Int. J. Odontostomat., 5(2):157-163, 2011.