Oral hygiene products may cause dental erosion

The erosive effects of the mouthwashes Calcusan, Salisan and Veadent, and of a tablet, Salivin, meant to be sucked, were studied using enamel blocks from bovine permanent teeth. For comparison, the Hart-Sport sport drink (pH 3.1), which is known to be erosive, and carbonated mineral water Vichy (pH 5.4), which is known to have no erosive effect, were also tested. After two hours of exposure to each test product losses of tooth material were measured by recording the surface profile, using a Dectak profilometer. Changes in the enamel blocks were also studied using a stereomicroscope and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). In the profilometric study, Calcusan was found to have a marked erosive effect (77 +/- 5 microns), four times as severe as the erosive effect of the positive control Hart-Sport (19 +/- 4 microns). Veadent had a less marked effect (3 +/- 1 microns). Salisan and Salivin had no detectable erosive effects and were similar in action to the negative control, carbonated mineral water. From the SEM pictures, Calcusan resulted in an EDTA-type reaction, with dissolution of the peripheral areas of enamel prisms. It is important to recognize that the organic acids and chelating agents in various oral hygiene products may have deleterious effects on teeth.