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Adam is a senior patrol leader for his Boy Scout Troop and enjoys playing soccer, basketball and golf. He also is a member of his student government and church youth group. His career goal is to become a research scientist at the 3M Company.
Mrs. Loree Davis, Adam's second-grade science teacher, is his science hero. "She was always doing fun, hands-on science experiments that we would be able to try," says Adam.
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After hearing continued debate in the news about soda pop machines in schools and about the money schools receive for selling the sweetened beverages to students, Adam decided to focus his science project on enamel erosion, soda pop and fluoride. He wanted to determine whether topical fluoride treatments are effective measures for reducing enamel erosion in teeth. He hypothesized that fluoride treatments would decrease enamel erosion and that fluoride varnish would be the most effective protection, followed by a rinse and fluoride toothpaste.
Adam obtained 64 previously impacted molars from an oral surgeon. Because they were impacted, the molars had been unexposed to the oral environment. Using a fluoride varnish, a rinse and fluoride toothpaste, Adam applied treatments daily and immersed each tooth in 2 ounces of different soda beverages, juices and bottled water. He also added 0.5 ml of stimulated whole saliva as a bacterial source. Adam weighed, visually examined for decalcification, photographed, and x-rayed each tooth at the beginning of the experiment, at three weeks, and at six weeks. He concluded that in this in vitro system, where the acid challenge is severe, the topical fluoride treatments did reduce mineral loss and that the varnish was most effective, followed by the rinse and the toothpaste.
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