Abstract
Citric acid‐induced changes in the structure of the mineral component of enamel stored in artificial saliva were studied by attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy as well as complementary electron probe microanalysis and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the application of artificial saliva for several hours (the minimum time period proved is 4 h) leads to slight, partial recovering of the local structure of eroded enamel apatite. However, artificial saliva surrounding cannot stop the process of loosening and breaking of P–O–Ca atomic linkages in enamel subjected to multiple citric acid treatments. Irreversible changes in the atomic bonding within 700 nm thick enamel surface layer are observed after three times exposure for 1 min to aqueous solution of citric acid having a pH value of 2.23, with a 24‐hour interval between the individual treatments. The additional treatment with basic fluoride‐containing solutions (1.0% NaF) did not demonstrate a protective effect on the enamel apatite structure per se.
Highlights
Acidic foods or beverages tend to cause tooth erosion, a chemical dissolution of surface hard tissues resulting from a tooth exposure to a variety of acids [1, 2]
Artificial saliva surrounding cannot stop the process of loosening and breaking of P–O–Ca atomic linkages in enamel subjected to multiple citric acid treatments
The position and the shape of the major attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR IR) peak is a result of the existence of two overlapping components corresponding to noneroded and eroded enamel apatite
Summary
Acidic foods or beverages tend to cause tooth erosion, a chemical dissolution of surface hard tissues resulting from a tooth exposure to a variety of acids [1, 2]. To elucidate how saliva counteracts erosive demineralization, several characteristics of enamel, for example, hardness, surface morphology, mineral loss, and lesion depth, have been investigated [4,5,6,7]. In vitro and in vivo studies proved that natural saliva and its synthetic substitutes reduce enamel mineral loss [4, 5], enhance enamel rehardening [7, 11], and decrease erosive lesion depth [4, 5]. A higher wavenumber of the peak related to the antisymmetric stretching mode of PO4 tetrahedra is indicative of changes in the local structure of hydroxyapatite, namely, occurrence of loosened and/or broken Ca–O bonds and disturbing the typical atomic surroundings of PO4 groups. The degree of local atomic structural damage in surficial enamel apatite can be quantified by the change in the position of the strongest ATR IR peak near 1015 cm−1 with respect to that of untreated enamel
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