Erosive potential of drinks consumed in Dubai.

Abstract

Background: Most of the consumed soft drinks are acidic in nature, regular consumption of these drinks which contain the main source of extrinsic acid in diet may result in dental erosion. Although studies have tested drinks for chemical parameters internationally, limited studies have been conducted on drinks in Dubai. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the erosive potential of different soft drinks in Dubai by determining the pH, titratable acidity and concentrations of phosphate, calcium, and fluoride in a variety of commercially available drinks in Dubai.

Materials and methods: Twenty-four commercially available soft drinks in Dubai were selected for this in- vitro study. The drinks were divided based on their carbon dioxide (CO2) contents into carbonated and non-carbonated drinks. All drinks were stored according to the manufacturers’ recommendations prior of conducting the study.The properties of each product were analyzed to measure their Acidity (pH), Titratable Acidity (TA), Fluoride (F), Calcium (Ca) and Phosphate (PO4). Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometers (SGIMADZU ICPE-9820) was used to calculate the mineral contents of tested juices at room temperature.

Results: The highest and lowest pH values were 4.38 & 2.79 which recorded for Orange juice (Rauch) and Sun cola (sun top) respectively. On the other hand, 3.6 and 0.11 were the highest and lowest titratable acidity values, which recorded for Mixed fruit lemon (Almarai) and Barbican- strawberry, respectively. Among both carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, the highest and lowest Ca values were 55.6 and 1.98 which were measured for orange juice (Rauch) and blue raspberry (Vimto) respectively. Both highest and lowest reading were ii among the non-carbonated drinks. In carbonated drinks, 7.83 was the highest Ca level measured for Power horse energy while 2.18 was the lowest value measured for Lemon IceTea (Lipton). Among all carbonated drinks, phosphate was not detected apart from Barbican-apple juice which contains 39.55ppm phosphate. On the other hand, the values of phosphate among non-carbonated were ranged from 447.63 to 19.04 for orange juice (Rauch) and Berry mix (sun top) respectively. the mean and standard deviation of calcium levels for both carbonated and noncarbonated were 3.31(2.21) and 9.96(12.16) respectively. Mean (SD) for phosphate were 39.55(0) and 140.67(134.33) for carbonated and noncarbonated drinks correspondingly. pH means were 3.23(0.12) and 3.4(0.44), while means titratable acidity were 0.24 (0.19) and 0.52 (0.78) for carbonated and noncarbonated, respectively. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the means of all variables between carbonated and noncarbonated drinks. only difference in calcium level was statistically significant (p˂0.05). The means of pH and Calcium were compared with data of mineral waters and treated waters which revealed significant difference with all tested drinks at (p˂0.05).

Conclusion: All drinks had erosive potential with fruit juices having the lowest mean pH and lowest mineral contents. The association between minerals and pH are high.