Light cola drink is less erosive than the regular one: An in situ/ex vivo study

Objective

This in situ/ex vivo study assessed the erosive potential of a light cola drink when compared to a regular one.

Methods

During 2 experimental 14-days crossover phases, eight volunteers wore palatal devices with 2 human enamel blocks. The groups under study were: group light, erosive challenge with light cola drink and group regular, erosive challenge with regular cola drink. During 14 days, erosive challenges were performed extraorally 3X/day. In each challenge, the device was immersed in 150 ml of light cola (group light) or regular cola (group regular) for 5 min. Erosion was analysed by surface profilometry (μm) and surface microhardness change (%SMH). The data were statistically analyzed using paired t test (p < 0.05).

Results

Group light (0.6 ± 0.2 μm) showed significantly lesser wear than group regular (3.1 ± 1.0 μm). There was no significant difference between the groups for the %SMH (group light −63.9 ± 13.9 and group regular −78.5 ± 12.7).

Conclusions

The data suggest that the light cola drink is less erosive than the regular one.