Clinical Investigation of the Inhibitory Effects of Tooth-Coating Materials on Initial Active Root Caries: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background and Objectives: Caredyne ZIF-C is a novel, capsule-mixed zinc-containing prototype glass ionomer cement (GIC). Zinc ions are reported to inhibit root dentin demineralization, dentin collagen degradation, bacterial growth, acid production, and in vitro bacterial biofilm formation. However, the effectiveness of GICs against initial root caries lesions is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of GICs, especially the new zinc-containing Caredyne ZIF-C GIC, as tooth-coating materials in patients with initial active root caries. Materials and Methods: A total of 58 lesions in 47 older adults (age > 65 years) were randomly allocated to one of the following three groups: Caredyne ZIF-C, Fuji VII (a conventional GIC), and sodium fluoride (NaF). All the lesions were treated with the assigned materials without removing the infected dentin, and the rates of dental plaque attachment and coating material fall-out were evaluated after 3, 6, and 12 months. The failure rate was defined as the number of teeth that needed restoration due to caries progression. Results: The plaque attachment rates tended to be lower in the material-coated root surfaces than in the healthy exposed root surfaces after 3, 6, and 12 months, although the differences among the three groups were not significant. Moreover, the coating material fall-out rate tended to be lower in the Caredyne ZIF-C group than in the Fuji VII group. There was no significant difference in the failure rate among the three groups at the 12 months mark. Conclusions: Though this pilot study offers a new direction for suppressing the progression of initial active root caries by controlling plaque attachment using GICs including Caredyne ZIF-C, clinical studies with a larger sample size are needed.

Effect of fluoride mouth rinse on fluoride releasing and recharging from aesthetic dental materials.

This study evaluated fluoride-release and recharging with the fluoride mouth rinsing technique on fluoridated materials. Three fluoride containing materials and one non-fluoride containing composite resin were used for this study. Samples for each material consisted of 15 discs, 9 mm diameter with a thickness of 1 mm. Initial fluoride release was assessed over a 60-day period. After that, 15 discs for each material were divided into 3 groups: distilled water group, 450-ppm and 900-ppm mouth rinsing groups. Fluoride release increased in combination with fluoride mouth rinse, and fluoride was higher in the 900-ppm group than the 450-ppm group. Moreover, S-PRG or F-PRG fillers materials released fluoride in higher than fluoroaluminosilicate glass fillers materials. In addition fluoride release from control samples was not observed. Therefore, only fluoride release material takes up fluoride. The findings of the present investigation suggest that the rate of fluoride release was different for each material, because they contained different function fillers. The results showed the importance of the fluoride mouth rinsing technique for fluoride-releasing restorative materials for the prevention of secondary caries.