Study of erosive alterations in dental enamel exposed to medicinal syrups

Abstract

Background: Some medications may increase the risk as well as the severity of caries including dental erosion. Prescriptions in liquid form is very common prescribed form of medicine for children in order to avoid the difficulty encountered in taking in other forms. Aim: To study erosive alterations in dental enamel exposed to selected medicinal syrups. Methods: In this prospective study thirty extracted/exfoliated noncarious deciduous molars were used. Before use, the teeth were hand scaled and cleaned. Erosive potential was planned to check for those formulations that are commonly prescribed like Ferium XT and Crocin syrup. Artificial saliva was taken as control. Surface microhardness was tested using the universal microhardness machine at 2, 3 and 4 weeks. Results: Both Ferium XT and Crocin produced a gradual loss of surface microhardness over a period of time i.e. at the end of 2, 3 and 4 weeks. Ferium XT showed significant loss of surface microhardness between 2nd and 3rd week. Loss of surface microhardness was observed at the end of 4 weeks in case of Ferium XT and Crocin also but it was not significant. Conclusion: The tested medicinal syrups could potentially erode deciduous tooth enamel after a series of immersion cycles over time. Further larger controlled trials are warranted to support our findings.