Resin-Based Materials Protect Against Erosion/Abrasion-a Prolonged Study.

While patient compliance is key to preventive measures related to dental erosion, the application of resin-based materials could serve as an additional treatment to inhibit erosion progression. This study evaluated the effect of applying resin-based materials, including resin infiltrant, on previously eroded enamel subjected to prolonged erosive and abrasive challenges. The factors under study were types of treatment (infiltrant [Icon], sealant [Helioseal Clear], adhesive [Adper Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus], and control [no treatment]); wear conditions (erosion [ERO] and erosion + abrasion [ERO + ABR]) and challenge time (5 and 20 days) in a single-phase study. The blocks were prepared from bovine enamel, eroded (0.01 M HCl, pH 2.3 for 30 seconds) and randomized among treatments, wear conditions, and volunteers. The application of resin-based materials followed the manufacturers' recommendations. Twenty-one volunteers wore the palatal intraoral device, in which one row corresponded to ERO and the other to ERO + ABR. In each row, all treatments were represented (2 blocks per treatment). For 20 days, the erosive challenge was performed 4 times/day (immersion in 0.01 M HCl, pH 2.3, for 2 minutes) for the ERO condition. For the ERO + ABR condition, two of the erosive challenges were followed by abrasion for 15 seconds with fluoride dentifrice slurry. Enamel and/or material loss was measured using profilometry (initial, after treatment, and after the end of the fifth and 20th days of erosive challenge) and analyzed by ANOVA models and Tukey's test (=0.05). The results showed that the application of resin-based materials did not cause superficial enamel loss. The infiltrant group showed a thicker layer of material above the enamel compared with the other materials (=0.001). After the erosive challenge, there was no difference between the conditions ERO and ERO + ABR (=0.869). All materials protected the enamel against erosion progression compared with the control group (=0.001). Based on these results, we conclude that the application of resin-based materials results in protection of previously eroded enamel subjected to erosive and abrasive challenge for 20 days.