Effects of dentifrice containing hydroxyapatite on dentinal tubule occlusion and aqueous hexavalent chromium cations sorption: a preliminary study

PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e45283. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045283. Epub 2012 Dec 28.

Abstract

In order to endow environmental protection features to dentifrice, hydroxyapatite (HA) was added to ordinary dentifrice. The effects on dentinal tubule occlusion and surface mineralization were compared after brushing dentine discs with dentifrice with or without HA. The two types of dentifrice were then added to 100 µg/ml of hexavalent chromium cation (Cr(6+)) solution in order to evaluate their capacities of adsorbing Cr(6+) from water. Our results showed that the dentifrice containing HA was significantly better than the ordinary dentifrice in occluding the dentinal tubules with a plugging rate greater than 90%. Moreover, the effect of the HA dentifrice was persistent and energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) revealed that the atomic percentages of calcium and phosphorus on the surface of dentine discs increased significantly. Adding HA to ordinary dentifrice significantly enhanced the ability of dentifrice to adsorb Cr(6+) from water with the removal rate up to 52.36%. In addition, the sorption was stable. Our study suggests that HA can be added to ordinary dentifrice to obtain dentifrice that has both relieving dentin hypersensitivity benefits and also helps to control environmental pollution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Calcium / metabolism
  • Chromium / metabolism*
  • Dentifrices / chemistry*
  • Dentin / drug effects*
  • Dentin / ultrastructure
  • Dentin Desensitizing Agents / pharmacology*
  • Dentin Sensitivity / prevention & control*
  • Durapatite / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Materials Testing
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Phosphorus / metabolism
  • Toothbrushing
  • Water / chemistry*

Substances

  • Dentifrices
  • Dentin Desensitizing Agents
  • Water
  • Chromium
  • chromium hexavalent ion
  • Phosphorus
  • Durapatite
  • Calcium

Grants and funding

The study was supported by the Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Projects (No. 2011B080701099) (http://pro.gdstc.gov.cn/stms/main.jsp). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.