Erosive effect of beverages on surface hardness and ultra-structure of deciduous teeth enamel

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the erosive potential of commonly used beverages on the surface micro-hardness and ultra-structure of deciduous teeth enamel. Materials and methods: A total of 52 human extracted deciduous molars were subjected to erosive challenge by cyclic immersion in four beverages: G1: artificial saliva, G2: strawberry-flavored milk, G3: orange juice, and G4: carbonated drink-Pepsi, for a 28- day pH cycling protocol. The enamel surface micro-hardness (SMH), and surface topography using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) were assessed at baseline, after two- and four-weeks of the erosive challenge. The SMH findings were statistically analyzed using the SPSS program at p ≤ 0.05 significance. Results: The pH of G4 and G3 showed significantly highly acidic pH. Both G4 and G3 showed the lowest SMH by four-week erosive challenge. By two-week erosive challenge, groups were ranked according to SMH as follows; G4