[Evaluation of the effectiveness of topical application in vivo of preparations consisting of fluoride and strontium on human teeth].
The effect of the topical application of fluoride and strontium on dental enamel has been studied. 30 subjects were split into two groups, all of whom had to have their first superior premolars extracted. One of the two premolars to be extracted was treated with three applications of APF gel in the first group, and with a series of topical applications of SrCl2 at 0.2% and EDTA at 10% in the second group. The results obtained show a significant increase in the concentration of trace elements in enamel of the treated teeth, the increase being of 0.23 and 0.05 mcg/mcm for the fluoride in the most superficial and in the deepest respectively of the observed strata. In the control teeth the average concentrations of fluoride resulted in 0.08 mcg/mcm on the surface and in depth, while the strontium showed an average concentration of 0.03 mcg/mcm. Similar behaviour was observed for the depth of biting resulting in an average of 6.8 mcm in the two groups of treated samples and of 11.4 and 9.7 mcm for the controls, respectively. The results confirm the usefulness of topical treatments and should stimulate further investigations of the problem mainly for the evaluation in the long run of the benefits and the efficacy of treatments integrating the two active principles.