Development of low erosive carbonated fruit drinks. 1. Evaluation of two experimental orange drinks in vitro and in situ.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the in vitro erosive potential and in situ erosive effect of two new formulation low calorie carbonated orange drinks with that of two conventional diet products and water.


METHODS
In the in vitro study, six specimens of deciduous and permanent enamel were randomly allocated to each of the five products and a '4h' protocol employed. In the in situ study, 15 healthy volunteers participated in a single centre, single blind, 5-phase crossover study, conducted according to Good Clinical Practice, and employing a validated model.


RESULTS
The in vitro erosive potential of the experimental formulations was less than that of the comparators at all time points. Conversely, the observed erosive potential of both experimental formulations was greater than that of the control. Consistent statistically significant differences were found in relation to permanent enamel only. Unfortunately, the in situ study did not produce results entirely consistent with those of the in vitro study. Notably, a generally progressive loss of enamel was observed in specimens exposed to the control.


CONCLUSIONS
The data from the in vitro study show the experimental formulations to have low comparative erosivity. However, the methodologies in vitro and in situ somewhat unusually do not correlate in ranking the erosivity of drinks. The results of this study should therefore be viewed with caution, further research being clearly warranted.
Hunter
M L
ML
Department of Dental Health and Biological Sciences, University of Wales College of Medicine, Dental School, Heath Park, CF14 4XY, Cardiff, UK. hunterml@cf.ac.uk
Hughes
J A
JA
Parker
D M
DM
West
N X
NX
Newcombe
R G
RG
Addy
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002253:Carbonated Beverages; D032084:Citrus sinensis; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005526:Food, Formulated; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014077:Tooth Erosion / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000473:pathology