ABSTRACT
Dental erosion, that is, the loss of dental hard tissue induced by acids of non-bacterial origin, is currently recognized in many Western countries as the main factor responsible for tooth wear. Dental erosion results not only in aesthetic, orthodontic, and functional complications, but is also associated with sensitivity and pain. Its prevalence has become alarmingly high and continues to escalate. As a consequence, it is expected that dental erosion will have a major economic impact on dental services in the decades to come. Thus, it is not daring to place dental erosion as one of the biggest challenges in dentistry for the 21stcentury. It is difficult to both diagnose dental erosion in early stages and to treat it in advanced stages. Thus, a considerable effort has been devoted to the development of prevention strategies. At present, most of such strategies focus on increasing the acid-resistance of the dentition and on weakening the erosive potential of erosive challenges, for example, acidic foods and beverages. Recently, it has been shown that different types of biopolymers can be used for these purposes. If topically applied, biopolymers can adsorb on
1 Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö University, 20506 Malmö, Sweden. 2 Biofilms-Research Center for Biointerfaces, Malmö University, 20506 Malmö, Sweden. E-mail: javier.sotres@mah.se
teeth increasing their acid-resistance. Additionally, the erosiveness of acidic beverages can be lowered if modified with biopolymers. Biopolymers present additional advantages over other anti-erosive compounds, for example, they do not possess health risks and, as expected from their wide use in the food industry, they may rise low consumer-acceptance concerns. This chapter aims at providing an overview of the potential of biopolymers in the prevention of dental erosion.
