Supplementation of soft drinks with metallic ions reduces dissolution of bovine enamel

Objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of metallic ions to carbonated drinks on their erosive potential. material and methods: powdered enamel was added to carbonated beverages (coca-cola™ or sprite zero™) and shaken for 30 s. the samples were then immediately centrifuged and the supernatant removed. this procedure was repeated 5 times with the beverages containing cu2+,mg2+,mn2+ or zn2+ (1.25-60 mmol/l). for coca-cola™,the concentration of each ion that exhibited the highest protection was also evaluated in combination with fe2+. the phosphate or calcium released were analyzed spectrophotometrically. data were analyzed using anova and tukey's test (p<0.05). results: for coca-cola™,the best protective effect was observed for zn2+ alone (10 mmol/l) or in combination (1 mmol/l) with other ions (12% and 27%,respectively,when compared with the control). regarding sprite zero™,the best protective effect was observed for cu2+ at 15 and 30 mmol/l,which decreased the dissolution by 22-23%. zn2+ at 2.5 mmol/l also reduced the dissolution of powdered enamel by 8%. conclusions: the results suggest that the combination of metallic ions can be an alternative to reduce the erosive potential of coca-cola™. regarding sprite zero™,the addition of cu2+ seems to be the best alternative.