The effect of different concentrations of fluoride in toothpastes with or without bioactive glass on artificial root caries.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of different toothpastes either containing 5,000ppm-F, 1,450ppm-F or bioactive glass (BG) with 540ppm-F on artificial root carious lesions (ARCLs).

METHOD

The crowns of 23 extracted sound teeth were removed leaving their roots only. Subsequently, each root was divided into four parts. A total of 15 sound root dentine (SRD) was left untreated as baseline. The ARCLs were developed for the remaining roots using demineralisation solution (pH-4.8). 15-ARCLs samples were then left untreated. The rest of samples were divided into four groups (n = 15 each) and treated with Group-1(BG with 540ppm-F); Group-2(5000ppm-F); Group-3(1450ppm-F) and Group-4(deionised water). 13-day pH-cycling included using demineralisation solution for 6 h, then placing samples into remineralisation solution (pH-7) for 16 h. Each sample was brushed with the assigned toothpaste twice a day during pH-cycling. Fluoride concentrations at each time point were measured using F-ISE, whilst calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) ion release was determined using ICP-OES, KHN, XRD, F-MAS-NMR analyses.

RESULTS

KHN showed significant surface changes for each group (p<0.001). The uptake of Ca occurred at days 1-2, phosphorus ion loss was high when compared to the uptake in all groups. XRD showed presence of sharp diffraction lines evidencing apatite formation for Groups 1-3. F-MAS-NMR confirmed fluorapatite presence in Groups 1-3.

CONCLUSION

All toothpastes were promising in fluorapatite formation. BG with 540ppm-F toothpaste released more ions (Caand P) and reharden the artificial root carious lesions when compared to other groups. However, 1450ppm-F toothpaste showed more fluoride-substituted apatite formation whilst 5000ppm-F toothpaste had more fluorapatite formation.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Toothpaste containing BG with 540ppm-F, 5000ppm-F and 1450ppm-F toothpastes are likely to have a significant impact in reversing and arresting root caries. However, randomised controlled double-blinded clinical trials are required to translate these results into clinical practice.