Assessing the Impact of Varied Dark Chocolate Concentrations on Enamel and Dentine Microhardness

Abstract

(1) Background: The objective of the current investigation was to determine how different dark chocolate concentrations impacted the enamel and dentine microhardness. (2) Methods: Twenty noncarious premolar teeth extracted for orthodontic reasons were used in this study. Each tooth was divided mesiodistally to obtain 40 specimens of enamel and dentine 4 × 4 mm. Initial and final assessments of the surface microhardness of the enamel and dentine were created using a Digital Micro Vickers Hardness Tester (Laryee, Beijing, China) under (0.24 N load for 15 s). Four random groups (n = 10) were created: G1 (control, immersed in artificial saliva), G2 (70%), G3 (85%), and G4 (100% dark chocolate). Each sample underwent four cycles of 60-s immersion in suggested concentrations, followed by 30 min in artificial saliva. The attained values underwent statistical analysis employing SPSS version 26, with the utilization of T-tests and ANOVA. (3) Results: The results revealed a significant, incremental increase in the average microhardness values for enamel, specifically 61.72 ± 22.729, 64.17 ± 23.397, and 109.15 ± 34.625, and for dentin from 57.91 ± 8.332 to 72.29 ± 2.752 and ultimately reaching 88.67 ± 8.602, corresponding to the escalating concentrations of dark chocolate (70%, 85%, and 100%) (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: Immersing the specimens in different concentrations of dark chocolate had a significant positive impact on the microhardness of both enamel and dentine.