The purpose of this in situ, double blind, crossover study was to compare the effectiveness of an application of titanium tetrafluoride (TiF4) on deciduous and permanent enamel submitted to highly cariogenic conditions. Five volunteers used palatal appliances with 80 sections of teeth during two phases (TiF4 and Control) of 14 days each. They dropped 25% glucose on the sections, eight times per day. After that, the enamel was analyzed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the Knoop Hardness Number (KHN) was determined at five different depths, up to 100 µm. The results revealed that differences between deciduous and permanent enamel were not significant. The KHN (Multiple Range Analysis) did not show a significant TiF4 effect, but SEM (Chi Square Test) results revealed differences between TiF4 and the Control group with p value = 0.027. There were equal numbers of incipient lesions in both groups, but there were 10 caries-free sections and 18 severe lesions in the Control group, against 20 and 8 in the TiF4 group, respectively. The findings suggested that lesions were less severe with TiF4 and that it changed the pattern of caries, but other studies are necessary to precisely define this effect, in terms of depth.
Fluorides, topical; Titanium; Dental caries
