Objective: From clinical point of view, it is essential to compare the effect of dental agents on remineralization with that of human whole saliva. Therefore, it would be reasonable to apply human saliva as a reaction system for remineralization studies. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of various fluoride agents on enamel remineralization by the combined means of a human saliva immersion (HSI) test and Quantitative Light-induced Fluorescence (QLF^TM) in vitro. Methods: The enamel slabs were prepared from bovine incisors and demineralized by immersion in a 0.1 M lactic acid solution (pH4.5) at 37°C for 2 d. Demineralized enamel samples were then exposed to one of the following stimulated whole human saliva (n = 6 per group) for 24 h at 37°C; A: paraffin-stimulated whole saliva, B: A plus 1-ppm as NaF, C: whole saliva after F mouthrinse (225 ppm F as NaF), D: whole saliva after use of NaF toothpaste (900 ppm F) and E: whole saliva after APF treatment of enamel samples. The whole saliva samples were collected from 6 healthy adults (3 males and 3 females; mean: 31.4 ys old) by chewing a paraffin sheet up to 10 ml and immediately centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 20 min to remove precipitates. The enamel samples were assessed by the QLF^TM to quantify mineral changes before and after the HSI test. Results: The recovery of the delta F (ΔΔF) values after the HSI test in the group D (10.1±4.6%) and group E (10.2±3.2%) were significantly greater compared with the group A (2.4±6.3%) at p<0.05 (ANOVA with Tukey-Kramer test). Conclusions: In conclusion, it was suggested that the combined the HSI test and QLF^TM can be used as a rapid measurement to screen the remineralization enhancement effects of fluoride agents.

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