In-situ monitoring of dental erosion in tooth enamel when exposed to soft drinks

The prevalence of dental erosion and decay in human teeth has increased dramatically in the few decades as a result of an increasing consumption of soft drinks and commercial fruit juices. A simple weighting method is described for the in-situ monitoring of dental erosion in tooth enamel when immersed in a soft drink. When compared to the conventional method, this new method is far superior in terms of accuracy of data collected and the ease of data collection in real-time. Atomic absorption results suggest that the increasing weight loss in tooth enamel during dental erosion in soft drinks can be attributed to the continuous leaching of Ca2+ ions, in addition to phosphorus, oxygen, and hydrogen. The potential application of this new weighing technique in other research areas is discussed.