Evaluation of Preventive Effects of Artificial Saliva in Dentin Erosion

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the erosion-preventive effect of artificial saliva formulations in vitro.
Methods: Cylindrical dentin samples from the roots of bovine teeth were embedded in acrylic resin, polished and the surface profiles were measured using a contact profilometer. Subsequently, the samples were randomly distributed into 10 groups (n = 20), according to the storage medium: deionized water or artificial saliva according described by Klimek, Vieira, Eisenburger and Amaechi. For each of them the addition of mucin was made or not. The samples were stored in their respective solution for 120 min under mechanical stirring then subjected to erosion for 60s with HCl (pH 2.6), stored for another 120 min, subjected to a second cycle of erosive challenge and the profiles were measured again. The data were analyzed by Kolmogorov Smirnov test and the statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA 2 way (saliva type and presence of mucin) and Tukey's test (α = 0.05).
Results: ANOVA showed significant statistical difference for the factor saliva type (p=0,00) and for the interaction between them (p=0,04). For the factor presence of mucin there was not statistical difference (p=0,36). Tukey's test results were: Deionized water: 4.60 ± 0.91 A; Deionized water + Mucine: 4.07 ± 0.93 AB; Amaechi: 3.72 ± 0.83 BC; Klimek: 3.60 ± 0.91 BC; Amaechi + Mucine: 3.34 ± 0.73 BC; Vieira: 3.31 ± 0.60 C; Klimek + Mucine: 3.27 ± 0.57 C; Vieira + Mucine: 3.20 ± 0.58 C; Eisenburger: 2.36 ± 0.45 D; Eisenburger + Mucine: 2.18 ± 0.54 D.
Conclusions: The addition of mucin to the solutions did not increase the effectiveness in preventing tooth erosion. However, artificial saliva according to Eisenburger presented a greater preventive effect against erosion on the dentin surface.