In vitro evaluation of the erosive potential of orange juice modified by food additives in enamel and dentine.

To evaluate the erosive potential of orange juice modified by food additives in enamel and dentine. Calcium lactate pentahydrate (CLP), xanthan gum (XG), sodium linear polyphosphate (LPP), sodium pyrophosphate tetrabasic (PP), sodium tripolyphosphate (STP) and some of their combinations were added to an orange juice. Pure orange juice and a calcium-modified juice were used as negative (C-) and positive (C+) controls, respectively. In phase 1, 15 modified orange juices were tested for erosive potential using pH-stat analysis. In phase 2, the additives alone and the combination with good results in phase 1 and in previous studies (CLP+LPP) were tested in an erosion-remineralization cycling model. In phase 3, the erosion and remineralization episodes were studied independently. Enamel was analysed by surface microhardness (SMH) and profilometry, whilst dentine by profilometry. In phase 1, reduction of the erosive potential was observed for all additives and their combinations, except XG alone. In phase 2, no detectable enamel loss was observed when CLP, LPP and CLP+LPP were added to the juice. XG, STP and PP had enamel loss similar to C- (p>0.05). Amongst additives, the combination CLP+LPP showed the highest SMH values followed by CLP (p<0.05). All the other groups presented SMH values similar to C- (p>0.05). For dentine, only CLP+LPP lead to surface loss values lower than C- (p<0.05). In phase 3, CLP, LPP and CLP+LPP seemed to protect against erosion; whilst none of the tested compounds seemed to interfere with the remineralization process. CLP and LPP reduced erosion on enamel and this effect was enhanced by their combination. For dentine, only the combination CLP+LPP reduced erosion.