Anticaries potential of a fluoride foam

Area of Science:

• Dental Materials Science
• Caries Prevention Research
• Fluoride Chemistry

Background:

• Fluoride foam is widely used for professional dental applications.
• Its anticaries potential is hypothesized to be equivalent to fluoride gel.
• Understanding reaction products with enamel is crucial for efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the enamel reactivity of an acidulated fluoride foam (Flúor Care®) with an acidulated fluoride gel (Flúor gel®).
• To determine the impact of agitation on fluoride foam and gel application.
• To quantify reaction products formed on sound and carious enamel.

Main Methods:

• Enamel slabs (sound and carious) were treated with fluoride foam and gel.
• Concentrations of total fluoride (TF), CaF2-like, and FAp were measured using a fluoride ion-specific electrode.
• Statistical analysis (ANOVA, Tukey tests) compared treatment differences.

Main Results:

• Agitation significantly increased fluoride foam reactivity with enamel, but not fluoride gel.
• Foam and gel showed comparable formation of TF and CaF2-like products on both sound and carious enamel.
• Firmly bound fluoride (FAp) concentrations were similar for foam and gel on carious enamel, but lower for foam on sound enamel.

Conclusions:

• Agitation is necessary for optimal enamel reactivity of the tested fluoride foam.
• The tested fluoride foam demonstrates comparable potential to fluoride gel in forming reaction products.
• Further research is needed to evaluate other fluoride foam brands and their application requirements.