RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of different toothbrushing (with dentifrice) protocols on the progression of erosive tooth wear for in vitro studies. DESIGN: Bovine enamel specimens were randomly distributed into 12 experimental groups (n = 10), according to the study factors: (1) brushing movement (horizontal or circular); (2) slurry diluent (artificial saliva or distilled water); (3) toothpaste dilution ratio (1:2, 1:3 or 1:4). A 5-day erosion-abrasion cycling model was performed, each consisting of 4 erosive challenges (0.3 % citric acid, pH=2.6) followed by 60 min exposure to artificial saliva. Brushing with fluoride toothpaste (15 s, 1400 ppm F-, AmF) was carried out 2x/day. Enamel surface loss (SL) was determined by optical profilometry. Data were statistically analyzed with three-way ANOVA and Tukey tests (α = 0.05). RESULTS: SL was lower for the horizontal movement than for the circular (p = 0.044). There were no significant differences among the dilution ratios for artificial saliva. For distilled water, the more concentrated slurry (1:2) presented greater surface loss than the less concentrated slurries (1:3 and 1:4, p = 0.049 and p = 0.014, respectively). Dilutions with artificial saliva at ratios 1:3 and 1:4 presented higher surface loss than with distilled water (p = 0.008 and p < 0.001, respectively); however, for 1:2 ratio, there were no significant differences between the diluents. CONCLUSIONS: The in vitro progression of enamel SL was influenced by the brushing movement, as well as the combination of the dilution ratio and the diluent of the toothpaste slurry, and therefore, all these factors must be considered when comparing results from different studies.