Effects of pyrophosphate and diphosphonates on the dissolution of hydroxyapatites using a flow system

Pyrophosphate and diphosphonate ions have been said to diminish the dissolution of hydroxyapatite crystals, because they lower the equilibrium concentrations of calcium and phosphate ions in the bulk solution around hydroxyapatite crystals in a closed system. However, in a closed system these effects are not necessarily due to an effect on dissolution alone. In this paper we have used a continuous flow system to study the effects of pyrophosphate and two diphosphonates, ethane-1-hydroxy-1,1,-diphosphonate and dichloromethane diphosphonate, on the dissolution of hydroxyapatite. All three compounds decreased markedly the rate of dissolution of hydroxyapatite as well as the exchangeable pools of calcium and phosphate ions around the crystals.