Effect of potential remineralizing agents on acid softened enamel.

PURPOSE

To assess whether pastes containing casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) and calcium sodium phosphosilicate (CSP) protect acid softened enamel against further erosive episodes.

METHODS

Enamel slabs of bovine teeth with preformed erosion-like lesions were randomly assigned to five treatment groups (n = 15): A) CPP-ACP (MI Paste, GC America); B) CPP-ACP+Fluoride (CPP-ACP+F, MI Plus Paste, GC America); C) CSP (Tooth Revitalizing Paste, Oravive); D) fluoridated dentifrice (FD, Sensodyne Cool Gel, GSK); E) control (CO, unexposed to any product). Paste treatments (1:3 slurry in deionized water or undiluted product in the case of the CPP-ACP formulae) were performed between five cycles of alternating erosive challenge (0.3% citric acid, pH = 3.2) and remineralization in artificial saliva. Specimens were analyzed by Knoop surface microhardness (SMH).

RESULTS

ANOVA indicated a significant (P< 0.0001) difference among the SMH values attained by acid softened enamel following the exposure to the pastes interspersed with erosion-remineralization cycles. Tukey's test ascertained that SMH values observed for the CPP-ACP+F and CSP groups did not differ from that of FD group, which were significantly higher than that found for the CO group. Specimens treated with CPP-ACP did not differ from any of the other groups.