Influence of cola's type and dental plaque on enamel erosion

Methods: During 3 experimental 14-day crossover phases, 10 volunteers wore intraoral appliances containing human enamel blocks which were submitted to six groups: 1st phase- (RC) regular cola and (RCDP) regular cola with dental plaque accumulation, 2nd phase- (LC) light cola and (LCDP) light cola with dental plaque accumulation, 3rd phase- (SS) 8% sucrose solution (as contained in the regular cola) and (AS) 0.024% aspartame solution (as contained in the light cola), both with dental plaque accumulation. Thus, in RC and LC, the specimens were fixed at the intraoral appliance level. In RCDP, LCDP, SS and AS, they were fixed 1.0 mm under the appliance level and covered by plastic meshes. The samples were demineralized extraorally 3 times daily for 5 minutes in the respective solutions. Enamel alterations were measured using profilometry and surface microhardness change (%SMHC). The data were tested using ANOVA and Tukey's test (p<0.05).

Results: Regarding enamel loss, RC (3.03 µm) showed significantly greater wear than the other groups, which did not differ from each other (RCDP/0.02; LC/0.29; LCDP/0.03; SS/0.02; AS/0.04 µm). For the surface softening, the highest demineralization was observed for RC (-79.75) and LC (-64.10), which differed significantly between them and also from all the other groups, which did not differ from each other (RCDP/-9.84; LCDP/-5.52; SS/-13.69; AS/-3.85).

Conclusion: The light cola drink is less erosive than the regular one and the presence of dental plaque diminished the erosive effect of both types of cola drink.

Financial support: FAPESP (Proc. 2006/03874-8)