Journal of Research in Dental and Maxillofacial Sciences

en Effect of Commonly Used Pediatric Medications on Primary Enamel Microhardness: An In Vitro Study pediatric pediatric Original article Original article <div style="text-align: justify;">Background and Aim: This study assessed the effect of commonly used pediatric medications on primary enamel microhardness.   Materials and Methods: This in vitro study was conducted on 40 extracted sound primary anterior teeth. The teeth were randomly assigned to 4 groups (n=10) to expose a 3x3 mm window on their buccal surface to acetaminophen syrup (group A), amoxicillin (group B), iron drops (group C), and artificial saliva (group D) after measuring their baseline microhardness with a hardness tester. The pH of the medications was also measured. The teeth were immersed in 5 mL of the respective drug 3 times/day in groups A and B, and once a day in group C, each time for 3 minutes for 5 days. Their secondary microhardness was then measured. One random tooth from each group underwent scanning electron microscopy (SEM) assessment in the last day of the intervention. Erosion was categorized using the Primary Enamel Surface (PES) scale. Data were analyzed using repeated measures and one-way ANOVA, paired t-test, and Tamhane’s test (alpha=0.05).    Results: The microhardness change was significantly greater in the iron drops than in the acetaminophen (P<0.001), amoxicillin (P<0.001), and control (P<0.001) groups. Acetaminophen caused a significantly greater reduction than amoxicillin (P<0.001). The reduction in microhardness was only significant in the acetaminophen (P<0.001) and iron drops (P<0.001) groups. Conclusion: This in vitro study showed that iron drops followed by acetaminophen caused a significant reduction in primary enamel microhardness. The microhardness reduction by amoxicillin did not reach statistical significance.  </div> Acetaminophen, Amoxicillin, Enamel, Iron, Dietary, Tooth, Deciduous 232 241 http://jrdms.dentaliau.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2828-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Milad Farahzadfard milad.farahzad@iau.ac.ir 100319475328460017638 100319475328460017638 No School of Dentistry, TeMS.c., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. Mandana Alamdari Mahd mandanaalamdari@iau.ac.ir 100319475328460017639 100319475328460017639 Yes Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, TeMS.c., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.