In vivo remineralization of artificial subsurface lesions in human enamel. I

In this paper in vivo remineralization of artificial subsurface lesions in human enamel, placed in partial prostheses of 30 patients during 3 months is presented. The patients were divided into 3 groups. Group A brushed daily with H2O: group B brushed with H2O and rinsed with a neutral 50 ppm F- solution and group C brushed with a neutral 1500 ppm F- toothpaste. Microhardness indentation measurements were carried out at the start of the experiment and after 2, 4, 16, 20, 44, 58 and 87 days. After 3 months, the indentation length reductions (in %) were for group A, B and C 16, 13 and 20%, respectively. These differences were all statistically significant at least at the p less than 0.05 level. In conclusion, subsurface lesions remineralize very slowly in vivo, much slower than in vitro situations. The remineralization rate is relatively fast in the first 2 weeks; for longer periods the remineralization rate of subsurface enamel lesions is very slow.