Effects of common beverages on the development of cervical erosion lesions.

Dental erosion is a demineralization process that affects hard dental tissues (such as enamel and dentin), independent of any microbial action. This study evaluated certain common beverages and their abilities to initiate cervical erosion lesions. The progression of these lesions was monitored in an accelerated test condition over the duration of 20 weeks. Morphotopographic and radiographic profile assessments of the disassociated human teeth in vitro illustrated the differences of each tested fluid's potential to cause erosion. The outcome of the erosion process was found to be acidic fluid-specific. Unlike caries, which progresses in a triangulated fashion, the erosion lesions in enamel and dentin both appeared to progress in a pattern characterized by incremental decalcification in a parallel plane. The disparity between the changes of the radiographic and photographic images of the involved tissues (enamel and dentin) reflected the differences in terms of the inorganic and organic contents of each one. Close examination of the dynamic changes in the cervical region of the disassociated human teeth revealed the mechanism of cervical erosion lesion formation that was a coincidental finding of this study's results.