In –Vitro Study on the Erosive Potential of Milk Products on Enamel Structure of Deciduous and Permanent Teeth

Abstract

Objective: The present research was under taken to assess the erosive potential of different milk products on the enamel microhardness in human deciduous and permanent teeth and correlate the Energy Dispersive X-ray Microanalysis (EDX-Analysis) and ultrastructural findings to the softening effect of the different milk products on the tooth structure. Methodology: 72 enamel specimens were prepared from freshly extracted deciduous and permanent teeth and divided into four groups and subgroup .Each subgroup comprised of 3 pairs of enamel specimens (3 deciduous and 3 permanent enamel slabs). In the first group (control group) specimens were immersed in distilled water, whereas the remaining three groups were immersed for 45 minutes under standardized conditions at room temperature in different milk products. The three groups included the milk group comprising plain milk, strawberry milk, cocktail juice milk with vitamin and apple exotic fruits juice milk; the laban group consisting of plain laban, strawberry laban, cocktail laban and orange laban; the yogurt group including plain yogurt, yogurt with natural strawberry fruit, yogurt with artificial strawberry flavor. Microhardness was measured using micrometer II microhardness, 300g load was applied and the significance of difference was statistically analyzed at (p 7 0.05). To enhance statistical analysis, the number of reading where evaluated to get better number of specimens. Enamel slabs were evaluated after exposure to milk products and distilled water by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Analysis of the calcium and phosphate ions on the enamel surface structure was determined using EDX-Analysis. Results: The microhardness measurements showed that there were statistically significant differences before and after immersion of the enamel slabs in the different milk products for 45 minutes when compared to control group. Plain milk and strawberry milk revealed the highest microhardness values indicating increased enamel hardness while the other products expressed significant softening effects as indicated by the decreased microhardness values. These effects were visualized by SEM and confirmed by EDX-Analysis. Conclusion: This study revealed that all tested milk products cause dental erosion to some extent except plain milk and strawberry milk that showed enamel hardening. This highlights once again the importance of milk and its essential nutritive values. Thus children should be encouraged to drink milk.