Effect of Commercial Effervescent Vitamin Tablets on Bovine Enamel

Background: In this study, four types of effervescent vitamins marketed in Korea were analyzed for their acidity and vitamin content. For this purpose, bovine teeth were immersed in vitamin, and surface microhardness and appearance were measured before and after immersion to evaluate tooth demineralization and erosion. Methods: Bovine permanent incisors with sound surface enamel were cut to 5×5 mm size, embedded in acrylic resin, and polished using a polishing machine with Sic-paper. The prepared samples were analyzed for pH, vitamin content, and surface hardness before and after immersion using a surface microhardness meter. Demineralization of surface dental enamel was observed using a scanning electron microscope. Results: The average pH of the four effervescent vitamins was less than 5.5; the pH of the positive control Oronamin C was the lowest at 2.76, while that of the negative control Samdasoo was the highest at 6.86. The vitamin content was highest in Berocca and lowest in the DM company Multivitamin. On surface microhardness analysis, surface hardness values of all enamel samples were found to be decreased significantly after 1 and 10 minutes of immersion (p＜0.05). After 10 minutes of immersion, there was a significant difference in the decrease in hardness between the experimental groups (p＜0.05). Scanning electron microscopy observation showed that dental enamel demineralization after 10 minutes of immersion was the most severe in Oronamin C except for Samdasoo, followed by DM company Multivitamin and VitaHEIM. Immersion in BeroNew and Berocca resulted in similar effects. Conclusion: There is a risk of tooth erosion due to decreased tooth surface microhardness when using the four types of effervescent vitamins and vitamin carbonated beverages with pH below 5.5. Therefore, high pH vitamin supplements are recommended to prevent tooth erosion.