Do salad dressings cause enamel erosion?

Objectives: To assess the erosive potential of a number of commercially available salad dressings in the laboratory. Methods: The erosive potential was assessed by measuring the pH, neutralisable acidity and ability to erode enamel in vitro. These were compared to an orange juice positive control. Results: The pH of the salad dressings ranged from 3.18-3.68 with their neutralisable acidity ranging from 28.91-60.15 mls of 0.1M NaOH. The amount of enamel removed following 1-hour contact with the dressings ranged from 0.11-0.94 microns. In comparison, the orange juice (Tropicana™ smooth) control had a pH of 3.86, a neutralisable acidity of 37.0 mls of 0.1 M NaOH and removed 5.32 microns of enamel. In each case the amount of enamel removed by the orange juice was significantly greater than any of the salad dressings tested (p<0.001). Conclusion: All the salad dressings tested were found to be only minimally erosive which may be due to the oil content of the dressings protecting the enamel surface.