Anticaries potential of a fluoride foam

Abstract Foam has been used worldwide as a vehicle for the professional application of fluoride and hypothetically should have the same anticaries potential as conventional fluoride gel (F-gel) in terms of the formation of reaction products with enamel. Thus, the ability of Flúor Care® foam (FGM, Joinville, SC, Brazil, 12,300 ppm F, acidulated) to react with enamel was evaluated in comparison with Flúor gel® (DFL, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, 12,300 ppm F, acidulated). Slabs (n=10/group) of sound enamel and with caries lesion were used, in which the concentrations of total fluoride (TF), and loosely (CaF2-like) and firmly (FAp) bound types were determined. The importance of agitation during application was previously tested. The determinations were made with fluoride ion-specific electrode and the results were expressed in μg F/cm² of the treated enamel area. ANOVA and Tukey tests were used to analyze the difference among treatments, independently for sound and carious enamel. The agitation of the products during application significantly increased the reactivity of the foam (p<0.05), but not that of the gel (p>0.05). The foam did not differ from F-gel (p>0.05) concerning the formation of TF and CaF2-like in sound or carious enamel. Regarding FAp, the foam did not differ from F-gel (p>0.05) in the carious enamel, but the concentration in the sound was lower (p<0.05). The results show that this commercial fluoride foam tested needs to be agitated during application to improve its reactivity with enamel, which raises a question about other brands.

摘要：泡沫材料已在全球范围内作为氟化物专业施用的载体被广泛使用，理论上其与牙釉质形成反应产物的防龋潜力应与常规氟化物凝胶（F-gel）相当。因此，本研究对比评估了Flúor Care®泡沫（FGM公司，巴西圣卡塔琳娜州若因维利市，含12300 ppm氟，酸化型）与Flúor gel®凝胶（DFL公司，巴西里约热内卢州里约热内卢市，含12300 ppm氟，酸化型）与牙釉质的反应能力。
实验采用健康牙釉质与龋损牙釉质薄片（每组n=10），测定其中总氟（total fluoride, TF）、松散结合型（类氟化钙，CaF₂-like）与紧密结合型（氟磷灰石，FAp）氟的含量。施用过程中的搅拌的重要性已在前期得到验证。氟含量采用氟离子选择性电极（fluoride ion-specific electrode）测定，结果以处理区域每平方厘米的氟微克数（μg F/cm²）表示。分别针对健康牙釉质与龋损牙釉质，采用方差分析（ANOVA）与Tukey检验（Tukey test）分析不同处理间的差异。
结果显示：施用时搅拌可显著提升该泡沫的反应活性（p<0.05），但对凝胶无显著影响（p>0.05）。在健康或龋损牙釉质中，该泡沫在总氟与类CaF₂结合物的生成量上与F-gel无显著差异（p>0.05）。针对FAp，该泡沫在龋损牙釉质中的生成量与F-gel无显著差异（p>0.05），但在健康牙釉质中的浓度更低（p<0.05）。本研究结果表明，受试的这款商用氟化物泡沫需在施用时进行搅拌以提升其与牙釉质的反应活性，这一结论对其他品牌的同类产品提出了可供探讨的问题。