Abstract
BackgroundThe objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of general tooth wear (GTW), i.e. tooth wear irrespective of etiology and erosive tooth wear (ETW), i.e. tooth wear predominantly due to erosion; and also to investigate the relationship between ETW and dental caries experience in 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia.MethodsA multi-staged cluster sampling method was employed. A total of 598 16-year-old adolescents participated in this study. Participants’ demographic profile was assessed through a self-administered questionnaire. Clinical examinations were carried out under standardized conditions by a single examiner. The level of GTW was recorded using the modified Smith and Knight’s Tooth Wear Index (TWI) whilst ETW were recorded using the Basic Erosive Wear Examination (BEWE) index. This index was developed to record clinical findings and assist in the decision-making process for the management of erosive tooth wear. Dental caries was recorded using the D3MFT index whereby D3 denotes obvious dental decay into dentine detected visually.ResultsThe prevalence of GTW, ETW and dental caries, i.e. percentage of individuals found to have at least one lesion, was 99.8%, 45.0% and 27.8% respectively. Two thirds of affected teeth with GTW were observed to have a TWI score of 1 whereas almost all of the affected teeth with ETW had a BEWE score of 2. The mean D3MFT was 0.62 (95% CI 0.50, 0.73) with Decayed (D) teeth being the largest component, mean D3T was 0.36 (95% CI 0.30, 0.43). There was no significant association between socio-demographic factors and prevalence of ETW. Logistic regression analysis also showed no significant relationship between the prevalence of ETW and D3MFT (p > 0.05).ConclusionsAlmost all adolescents examined had GTW but they were mainly early lesions. However, nearly half were found to have ETW of moderate severity (BEWE score 2). No significant relationship between the occurrence of erosive tooth wear and caries was observed in this population.
Highlights
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of general tooth wear (GTW), i.e. tooth wear irrespective of etiology and erosive tooth wear (ETW), i.e. tooth wear predominantly due to erosion; and to investigate the relationship between ETW and dental caries experience in 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia
Most dental professionals overlook the early stages of tooth erosion and dismissed tooth surface loss as something that is ‘normal’ or physiological and does not require any intervention [1]
The secondary objective of this study was to relate prevalence and severity of ETW and GTW to the caries experience in the same adolescents. Study population This cross sectional study was conducted in Kuantan, Pahang, which is the most populous district in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia
Summary
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of general tooth wear (GTW), i.e. tooth wear irrespective of etiology and erosive tooth wear (ETW), i.e. tooth wear predominantly due to erosion; and to investigate the relationship between ETW and dental caries experience in 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia. Tooth wear is a relatively new emerging dental public health problem which has not yet raised sufficient awareness among the public. Most dental professionals overlook the early stages of tooth erosion and dismissed tooth surface loss as something that is ‘normal’ or physiological and does not require any intervention [1]. The terms ‘tooth wear’ and ‘dental erosion’ had been used interchangeably by some whilst others used tooth wear as the cumulative effect of abrasion, attrition and dental erosion [2]. Huysmans et al attempted to differentiate the two by defining, erosion as a partial demineralization of enamel or dentine by intrinsic or extrinsic acids and erosive tooth wear as the combined effect of erosion and mechanical wear (abrasion or attrition) on tooth surface [3] with erosion being the dominant process
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