Effect of Sodium, Amine and Stannous Fluoride on Enamel Erosion

Methods: Bovine enamel samples were submitted to a cyclic de- and remineralization for three days. Each day, the samples were exposed for 120 min to pooled human saliva and subsequently treated with one of the fluoride solutions for 3 min: amine fluoride (AmF, 0.5% and 1% F-), sodium fluoride (NaF, 0.5% and 1% F-), each at pH 3.9 and 7.0, and stannous fluoride (SnF2, 0.5% and 1% F-), at pH: 3.9. Additionally, two groups were treated with fluoride-free placebo solutions (pH: 3.9 and 7.0) and one group served as control (no fluoridation). The specimens were inserted in a so-called artificial mouth and eroded six times daily with hydrochloric acid (pH 2.6) for 90 s each. Each erosive attack was followed by 1 h remineralization with artificial saliva. After the last demineralisation, the samples were stored in artificial saliva up to the next day. After three days, enamel loss was analysed profilometrically and evaluated statistically by ANOVA.

Results: Only the acidic 0.5% and 1% SnF2 and 1% AmF solutions were able to reduce erosive enamel loss significantly, while all other solutions and placebos did not differ significantly from the control. Between the acidic SnF2 and the 1% AmF solutions no significant differences could be detected.

Conclusion: The acidic 0.5% and 1% SnF2 and 1% AmF solutions were effective in protecting enamel erosion, while NaF did not show any protective capability.