Erosive Potential course for Dental Practice

This session considers the potential of food and drink to cause dental erosion and how the effects of this can be measured in the laboratory.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Explain the dynamic equation that represents acid dissociation
• List the factors that modify acid dissociation
• Explain what is meant by pH
• Explain what is meant by titratable acidity and how this differs from pH
• State how erosion affects the tooth surface hardness and tooth surface profile
• State the clinical relevance of measures of acidity

Dental erosion, the progressive and irreversible loss of hard tissue, is one of the principal causes of tooth wear. It is caused by a chemical process of acid dissolution which damages the tooth enamel and dentine.