Journal of Dental Research, Vol 77, 68-72, Copyright © 1998 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Distribution of fluoride in the oral cavity after application of a bioadhesive fluoride-releasing tablet
P. Bottenberg, C. Bultmann and H. G. Graber
Department of Restorative Dentistry, Free University of Brussels, Belgium.
Bioadhesive fluoride tablets are fluoride-releasing devices that can be
applied to the oral mucosa by the patient and release fluoride for several
hours. From earlier research, it is known that a single fluoride source in
the mouth can lead to an uneven distribution of fluoride in the oral
cavity. In this study, fluoride concentrations were determined at different
sites of the oral cavities of 13 healthy human volunteers after the
application of a bioadhesive fluoride tablet containing 0.5 mg fluoride.
The sites were: (1) labial surfaces of the upper central incisors, (2)
lingual surfaces of the lower central incisors, (3) labial surface of the
first upper left molar, and (4) labial surface of the lower right first
molar. The tablet was fixed either centrally on the palate or in the lower
labial sulcus in two consecutive experiments. Saliva was sampled with
polyethylene sponges 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, 120, 180, and 240 minutes after
tablet insertion. Fluoride was determined electrochemically. It could be
shown that the area under the curve (AUC) values were significantly (p <
0.05) higher after tablet insertion in the lower labial sulcus at sampling
site 1, a trend (p = 0.06) could be calculated for sampling sites 2 and 3,
and no difference was found at sampling site 4. Fluoride could be detected
in concentrations above 0.01 mmol.L-1 at all sampling sites after tablet
insertion in the lower labial sulcus. This location seems to be a more
appropriate tablet location than the palate.
