An experimental study of the effect of strontium pre-treatment on calcium release from carious and non-carious teeth.

The administration of strontium salt is known to be beneficial for bones in preventing calcium loss and osteoporosis. Therefore, we decided to study if strontium treatment affects calcium release from teeth in vitro. Extracted carious as well as non-carious teeth were washed, cleaned, and dried. These were individually immersed in 25 ml of 1% lactic acid at 37 degrees C for 24 h, and the amount of calcium released was measured. The rate of calcium release from these teeth was again determined after their exposure to M/4 strontium chloride for 1 month at 37 degrees C. It was found that: (1) the rate of calcium release from non-carious teeth was significantly higher than carious teeth, possibly because there was more calcium present, (2) the rate of calcium release was almost halved after strontium treatment in both groups of teeth, (3) the Vicker's microhardness of non-carious teeth was higher than those of carious teeth, and (4) strontium treatment did not affect hardness. Strontium treatment may be beneficial in reducing loss of calcium from intact teeth-non-carious as well as carious-and this beneficial effect of strontium is unrelated to change in teeth hardness.