Evaluation of the effects of xylitol and fluoride to erosion

Objective:Dental erosion is an important cause of tooth hard tissue loss. In this study, the addition of xylitol and fluoride, in combination or alone, into an acidic beverage to affect erosion on permanent tooth enamel was investigated. Material and methods:Pepsi was chosen as an acidic beverage and four groups of erosive solutions were prepared: Pepsi® (group A), Pepsi®+fluoride (Group B), Pepsi® +xylitol (Group C), Pepsi®+fluoride+xylitol ( Group D). In each group randomly selected 10 enamel specimens were used. The specimens evaluated for weight loss, mineral loss and surface changes by micro scaler, x-ray diffraction and SEM, respectively. Statistical analyses were carried out by Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results:Mineral loss values were found to be statistically insignificant for all of the groups. Statistically significant difference was only observed for Pepsi® and Pepsi®+fluoride groups for weigh loss. No significant differences were found for each of the three peak values that were mainly evaluated in all groups. During the SEM evaluations fort he detection of surface changes; the prismatic enamel layer that is found in normal enamel was only observed in the Pepsi®+fluoride group. Conclusion: The high erosive potential of Pepsi® pointed out that the flouride amount added to beverages along with to the storage and serving conditions are also important. The erosive potential of Pepsi® was found to be unaffected by adding xylitol alone or in combination with fluoride.