Effect of Oral-Hygiene-Products and Dental Pellicle on Penetrability of Curodont-Repair™

Objectives: Curodont Repair as a self-assembling-peptide (P₁₁-4) provides a scaffold for enamel remineralization to occur. Its efficiency is based on its ability to penetrate deep into the lesion. The naturally occurring biological complex layer (plaque, mineral-deposits) on enamel surface is expected to hinder the peptide penetrability. This study investigated the effect of different combinations of deposits on the diffusion of P₁₁-4 into initial enamel lesions.
Methods: Extracted human molars were each cut into 5 sections. Acid-resistant nail varnish was used to create 2 x 3 mm treatment-window on each section. White-spot-lesions were created in all specimens using 5-days pH-cycling Quiroz protocol. The 5 sections from each tooth were randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups (7 specimens/group). (CON) control received no treatment, (P) pellicle created by incubating specimens in freshly collected human saliva for 2 hours, (T) treated for 5 min with slurry of 1100-ppm fluoride toothpaste, (TP) 1100-ppm toothpaste treatment then pellicle, (THP) 1100-ppm toothpaste treatment then 7% hydroxyapatite toothpaste then pellicle again. Using confocal laser fluorescence microscopy (CLFM), mean depth of penetration (DP) of fluorescence-labelled P₁₁-4 was measured from tooth surface to when signal disappeared.
Results: ANOVA, followed by Student-Newman-Keuls were used to compare the mean DP of all groups. The pellicle, THP, and TP groups revealed statistically significant less penetration (P= 0.05) into the white-spot-lesions.
Conclusions:
Within the limitations of this study, results suggest that the presence of biologically complex-layers (pellicle, mineral-deposits) on tooth surface significantly influence the penetration of Curodont Repair (P₁₁-4).
Whether the inhibition posed by the biologically relevant layer is clinically relevant for the efficacy of the self-assembling peptide (Curodont Repair) needs to be investigated in future experiment.