Pediatric liquid medicaments--do they erode the teeth surface? An in vitro study: part I

The present study was conducted to investigate the endogenous erosive potential of some of the most commonly used pediatric liquid medicaments in our day to day practice. Eight commonly used pediatric liquid medicaments were selected and their endogenous pH was measured using a pH electrode meter Twenty four exfoliated or extracted primary teeth without any carious lesion/restorations, maintained in selected pediatric liquid medicaments were observed under SEM after 1 min, 10 mins and 8 hours of time intervals. The pH ranged between 6.05 (Salbutamol) to 6.77 (Paracetamol) which were acidic, whereas Theophylline had a basic pH of 7.71. The irregular pattern of pit-like erosion area were seen in all specimens, varying from site to site and probably depending on the prismatic versus a prismatic nature and composition of the affected enamel. In conclusion, all the pediatric liquid medicaments used in this study showed an erosive effect on the primary enamel surface irrespective of their pH when viewed under SEM.