Abstract
Xerostomia, known as dry mouth, is caused by decreased salivary flow. Treatment with lubricating oral rinses provides temporary relief of dry mouth discomfort; however, it remains unclear how their composition affects mineralized dental tissues. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the effects of common components in xerostomia oral rinses on biomimetic apatite with varying carbonate contents. Carbonated apatite was synthesized and exposed to one of the following solutions for 72 hours at varying pHs: water-based, phosphorus-containing (PBS), mucin-like containing (MLC), or fluoride-containing (FC) solutions. Post-exposure results indicated that apatite mass decreased irrespective of pH and solution composition, while solution buffering was pH dependent. Raman and X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the addition of phosphorus, mucin-like molecules, and fluoride in solution decreases mineral carbonate levels and changed the lattice spacing and crystallinity of bioapatite, indicative of dissolution/recrystallization processes. The mineral recrystallized into a less-carbonated apatite in the PBS and MLC solutions, and into fluorapatite in FC. Tap water did not affect the apatite lattice structure suggesting formation of a labile carbonate surface layer on apatite. These results reveal that solution composition can have varied and complex effects on dental mineral beyond dissolution, which can have long term consequences on mineral solubility and mechanics. Therefore, clinicians should consider these factors when advising treatments for xerostomia patients.
Highlights
Xerostomia, commonly known as dry mouth, is a symptom caused by decreased salivary flow [1] that affects up to 64.8% of people depending on the selected population [2,3,4]
The change in pH of the solutions with time, as well as the elements dissolved into the solute were measured to determine the effect of solution composition on biomimetic dental mineral dissolution/ recrystallization
To address how the composition of xerostomia rinses impacts tooth health, numerous studies have examined the effect of different rinses and artificial salivas on tooth erosion [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21, 27], which is defined as dissolution of mineralized tissue on the surface of teeth
Summary
Xerostomia, commonly known as dry mouth, is a symptom caused by decreased salivary flow [1] that affects up to 64.8% of people depending on the selected population [2,3,4] It is caused by a multitude of etiologies including medications, cancer treatments, and systemic diseases [1]. Xerostomia patients often suffer discomfort, dysphagia, irritations in mucosa, and considerable increased risk of caries and demineralization of the dental tissues [1, 5,6,7]. This increased caries risk is associated with changes in salivary quantity and composition; including decreased salivary pH and buffering capacity [1, 8, 9].
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