Fluoridated milk enhances the mineral density of artificial proximal carious lesions in situ

Abstract

Objective To compare the mineral density (MD) of non-fluoridated-milk (non-F-milk), fluoridated-milk (F-milk), adjunctive to 1000-ppm-fluoride dentifrice (FD), and 1000-ppm-FD alone of proximal artificial enamel carious lesions (AECL) in high caries-risk patients. Materials and methods This double-blind, cross-over in situ study comprised seven high caries-risk volunteers. Orthodontic brackets with one slab of AECL were fixed randomly to each volunteer per phase. The study comprised three experimental periods with a 7-d wash-out period using FD between sessions; (1) A four-week tooth brushing with FD 2×/day by all subjects as a control. The participants were then randomly allocated to (2) drinking 2.5-ppm-F-milk 1×/day or (3) non-F-milk 1×/day, adjunctive to tooth-brushing with FD for 4-weeks. The subjects crossed over from each type of milk and continued the same protocol for another four weeks. After each phase, the MD of each specimen was analyzed using micro-computed tomography (Micro-CT). Results The baseline MD was not significantly differences (p = .653). When brushing with FD and drinking F-milk, the MD gain was significantly higher (11.68 ± 2.89%) compared with brushing with FD and drinking non-F-milk (4.59 ± 1.78%) (p = .003) or brushing with FD alone (5.30 ± 2.10%) (p = .003). Conclusions F-milk adjunctive to FD significantly increased MD gain compared with non-F-milk + FD or FD alone.