Resin-Based Materials Protect Against Erosion/Abrasion-a Prolonged In Situ Study

While patient compliance is key to preventive measures related to dental erosion, the application of resin-based materials could serve as an additional treatment to inhibit erosion progression. This in situ study evaluated the effect of applying resin-based materials, including resin infiltrant, on previously eroded enamel subjected to prolonged erosive and abrasive challenges. The factors under study were types of treatment (infiltrant [Icon], sealant [Helioseal Clear], adhesive [Adper Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus], and control [no treatment]); wear conditions (erosion [ERO] and erosion + abrasion [ERO + ABR]) and challenge time (5 and 20 days) in a single-phase study. The blocks were prepared from bovine enamel, eroded (0.01 M HCl, pH 2.3 for 30 seconds) and randomized among treatments, wear conditions, and volunteers. The application of resin-based materials followed the manufacturers' recommendations. Twenty-one volunteers wore the palatal intraoral device, in which one row corresponded to ERO and the other to ERO + ABR. In each row, all treatments were represented (2 blocks per treatment). For 20 days, the erosive challenge was performed 4 times/day (immersion in 0.01 M HCl, pH 2.3, for 2 minutes) for the ERO condition. For the ERO + ABR condition, two of the erosive challenges were followed by abrasion for 15 seconds with fluoride dentifrice slurry. Enamel and/or material loss was measured using profilometry (initial, after treatment, and after the end of the fifth and 20th days of in situ erosive challenge) and analyzed by ANOVA models and Tukey's test (α=0.05). The results showed that the application of resin-based materials did not cause superficial enamel loss. The infiltrant group showed a thicker layer of material above the enamel compared with the other materials (p=0.001). After the erosive challenge, there was no difference between the conditions ERO and ERO + ABR (p=0.869). All materials protected the enamel against erosion progression compared with the control group (p=0.001). Based on these results, we conclude that the application of resin-based materials results in protection of previously eroded enamel subjected to in situ erosive and abrasive challenge for 20 days.