Demineralization effects of breast milk, formula milk and cow’s milk on the primary teeth. A study of SEM-EDX analysis

Abstract

Purpose: It was aimed to investigate demineralization effects of breast milk, formula milk and cow's milk on deciduous teeth with SEM-EDX analysis. 
 Materials and methods: Demineralization effects of breast milk (Group-1), 3 different formula milks: Aptamil Pronutra-3 (Group-2), Hipp Organic-3 (Group-3), SmA Optipro-2 (Group-4) and cow's milk (Group-5) on newly extracted caries-free primary incisors were investigated on 5 teeth in each group. Each tooth was split in the sagittal direction from the midline and embedded in 2 separate acrylic blocks with their labial surfaces exposed. Half of the teeth was exposed to the milk material for 15 minutes, 4 times a day for 5 days, while the other half was kept in artificial saliva only. After the exposures, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of the labial surfaces were taken and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) analyzes were performed. For the statistical analysis Independent-Samples T test, Man Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were used. 
 Results: The most increased enamel porosity was seen in Group-2. A significant decrease was observed in the amount of Ca on tooth surfaces exposed to breast milk and formula milks, and a significant increase in the amount of both Ca and P after exposure to cow's milk (p=0.009). The decrease observed in the amount of Ca after exposure to breast milk was significantly higher than that of formula milks (p=0.001). 
 Conclusion: Formula milk and breast milk are not innocent in terms of causing demineralization, therefore awareness of parents and dentists on this issue should be increased.