The erosive potential of certain alcoholic beverages

Objectives:

Alcoholic soft drinks have become increasingly popular and have high concentrations of citric acid and alcohol; they may cause dental erosion. This study aimed to investigate the erosive potential of alcopops on bovine enamel in vitro.

Methods:

Titratable acidity, pH, and fluoride content were measured in four alcopops, and a positive (orange juice) and negative (de-ionised water) controls. Six bovine upper incisors were prepared and sectioned to give six slabs (4x4mm). Each slab was covered with nail varnish, leaving an exposed window (2x2mm). Samples were immersed in 20ml of each of the test solutions for 20min, 1h, and 24h under gentle agitation (100 rpm). Enamel surface loss was determined using quantitative Laser Fluorescence (QLF), non-contact laser profilometry (NCLP) and transverse microradiography (TMR).

Results:

Enamel loss occurred with all test drinks and the positive control (p<0.05), and the depth of lesion correlated with pH and time. Fluorescence loss (QLF) ranged from 33.33% to 50.65%. NCLP gave a mean step height (µm) ranging from 18.2±0.6 to 20.9±0.6 (20min), 14.12±0.002 to 52.3±0.01 (1h), 76.5±2.5 to 93.6±0.4 (24h). No significant difference was observed between 20min and 1h exposure, although both times had significantly (p<0.05) greater erosion as compared with baseline. Within each alcopop group significant erosion had occurred at 24h exposure compared with baseline and previous times. At 24h, mineral loss (TMR) was assessed and gave mineral losses (Dz) of 247.5±68.5 to 12710.0±6141.2 vol%.µm and lesion depths (Ld) of 11.4±2.0 µm to 186.4±67.5 µm.

Conclusion:

All the tested alcopops resulted in significant enamel loss at 24h (p<0.001) with direct correlation between degree of enamel loss and both pH and increasing exposure time. The erosive potential of alcopops may be reduced by increasing their pH.