The Effect of Carbonate Beverage and Soft Beer on Enamel Microhardness of Permanent Teeth

Statement of Problem: Excess consumption of acidic foods is the most common etiologic factor in human dental erosion. This study aimed at the assessment of the effect of the mostly consumed carbonate beverage and soft beer on the microhardness of the permanent teeth enamel.Methods and Material: In this experimental study, 30 extracted human molar teeth free of crack, caries, wear and hypocalcification were randomly divided into three groups. The before exposure microhardness of all teeth were measured. Then each group was exposed to one of the fresh drinks, carbonate beverage and soft beer, for 5 minutes. The exposed surface was the same in all the samples (a 5 x 5 mm square of the distal surface). The amount of drinks per sample was the same as well (40 ml). At the end of the exposure period, the microhardness of the teeth were measured again. Microhardness changes in each group were analyzed by paired t-test and those between groups were analyzed by one way ANOVA. The mean of the primary enamel microhardness after immersion in carbonate beverage (Zamzam cola) and soft beer (Behnoosh lemon delester) decreased as much as 13.76% and 5.7% respectively. Tap water did not have any significant effect on the enamel microhardness. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between the amounts of reduction of the enamel microhardness for each beverage. Reduction of enamel microhardness after application of Zamzam cola® and Behnoosh lemon delester® was statistically significant but after immersion in tap water there were not significant differences. However, the amount of reduction for delester group was much less than Zamzam cola®.