This study investigated the softening and erosive effects of various paediatric\nover-the-counter (OTC) oral liquids on deciduous teeth. Twenty sectioned and polished deciduous\nenamel blocks were ground on the buccal surface (2 Ã?â?? 2mm2) and randomly divided into five groups,\nimmersed into four commercially-available paediatric OTC oral liquids (two for paracetamol, both\nsugared; and two for chlorpheniramine, one sugared and one sugar-free), with deionized water as\ncontrol. The pH of the oral liquids ranged from 2.50 to 5.77. Each block was immersed into the test or\ncontrol groups for 15 s, rinsed with deionized water, and Vickers micro-hardness (n = 5) was measured.\nAfter twenty cycles of immersion and hardness measurements, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)\nand Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) were used to evaluate the surface morphology\nand chemistry of the tooth blocks, respectively. The pH values of the liquids were also recorded.\nRapidly descending trends in the micro-hardness ratios of the four test groups were observed that\nwere statistically different from the control group (p < 0.001). EDS showed an increase of Ca/C ratio\nafter drug immersion, whereas SEM showed an enamel loss in all the test groups. Paediatric OTC\noral liquids could significantly soften the enamel and render them more susceptible to caries, such\nthat the formulation of the oral liquids is the major factor.
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