Dennis Zhang

A Deep Dive into Enamel Erosion

Title

A Deep Dive into Enamel Erosion

Presented By

Dennis Zhang 

BASF

Presentation Time

10:00-10:30AM

Abstract

The oral care category has been steadily growing through the past decades with the projected total sales surpass 10 billion dollars within the next 5 years in US alone. Consumers see oral care products as household staples which they pay close attention to the benefits of these products. Strengthening/protecting enamel is one of their top priorities as the prevalence of enamel erosion increases globally. During this session, we will dive into the root causes, implications, and mechanism of enamel erosion.

Enamel protects our teeth from daily acid challenges from acidic food and beverages. Naturally, our mouth maintains a balanced pH (6.7-7.4) through the buffering capacity of saliva. Saliva also contains salivary proteins and supersaturated minerals that modulate the remineralization and demineralization process and maintain tooth integrity. When acid makes contact to enamel surface, enamel started to dissolve and release calcium and phosphate ions to saliva. This process is called demineralization which ultimately results in enamel softening and thinning. As enamel gets thinner, the pale-yellow dentin underneath starts to show through, and our teeth will appear yellowish. The exposure of dentin also increases the chance of tooth sensitivities when consuming hot or cold food and beverages. Luckily, our body has a balancing process that counteracts the damage of demineralization called remineralization. The supersaturated calcium and phosphate ions are stabilized and results in the regain of mineral or remineralized enamel.

Even though our body can naturally remineralize acid damage on enamel, this balance is easily disrupted by the excessive consumption of an acidic diet and/or medical conditions such as acid reflux. Acid damage to enamel is also called acid erosion and can be detected by dental clinicians. There are a variety of oral care products that aim to mitigate the erosion process. New research of a naturally derived protein peptide has shown promising results compared to the traditional approach.

Meet the Speaker

Dennis Zhang is the oral care technical service and application specialist at BASF where he manage the oral care products portfolio for North America. He works closely with both internal and external partners to deliver customer excellence. Prior to BASF, Dennis spent seven years at Colgate Palmolive where he had a variety of responsibilities from upstream innovation to product life cycle management for oral care products. He earned both a M.S. and a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Rutgers University.