Micro computed tomography analysis of abrasivity of toothpaste tablets compared to conventional toothpaste.

Purpose: To evaluate with microCT dentin and enamel abrasion depth caused by toothpaste tablets when compared to conventional toothpastes.
Methods: Dentin (N= 64) and enamel blocks (N=64) were randomized into four experimental groups of 16 specimens each for dentin and enamel. CP: Colgate Cavity Protection, served as the low abrasive toothpaste; AW: Colgate Total Advanced Whitening was used to represent a highly abrasive toothpaste. Two different types of toothpaste tablets were used. DT: Denttabs and BT: Bite tabs. To prepare the slurries, 40 mL of water was added to 25 g of each toothpaste and 4.4 g of each toothpaste tab. Blocks were brushed for a total of 10,000 and 40,000 strokes for dentin and enamel, respectively following ISO standard 11609. On completion of brushing, specimens were scanned with a microCT system. Tomographic 3D reconstruction followed by abrasion depths measurements were performed. Kruskal-Wallis procedure tested abrasion depths among the different groups. Tests of hypotheses were two-sided with an alpha level at 0.05.
Results: There was a statistically significant difference in dentin abrasion depth among the groups (P< 0.001). The mean dentin/enamel abrasion depths in microns were 25.3/4.4, 36.8/4.4, 66.8/3.0, and 230.3/15.5 for DT, BT, CP, and AW respectively. Dentin and enamel abrasion depth of AW was the highest and was different from all other groups after multiple comparisons (P< 0.05).
Clinical Significance: Dentin abrasivity of toothpaste tabs is negligible as determined with microCT.
Competing Interests: The authors declared no conflict of interest.
(Copyright©American Journal of Dentistry.)