Why is there and should there be more attention paid to dental erosion?

Fluoride delivered by fluoridation, toothpaste, and mouth rinses, combined with regular preventive professional and personal care, has given us a much better opportunity to keep our teeth for a lifetime. But in contrast to better preventive care, lifestyle changes leading to stress or dietary changes in what and how we drink and eat may adversely affect the esthetics and/or healthy look of our teeth. Surface-enamel wear can be described as the result as well as a chronicle of an individual's life. Components of wear--including abfraction, attrition, abrasion, and erosion--combine to characterize the lifetime of wear. The chemical-erosive-wear component appears to be changing because of modern cultural life choices. A number of literature reports conclude that excessive exposure to various acid sources can contribute to the chemical erosion of tooth surfaces. For example, the hydrochloric acid regurgitated from the stomach, the acid added to swimming pools to combat microbes, the citric and chelating carboxylic acids of fruit and fruit-based beverages, the phosphoric acid of cola beverages, and the acetic acid of vinegars used for salads all can contribute to the chemical erosion of tooth surfaces. While these acid sources have the potential to erode, our saliva and the manner in which we consume these substances can largely modify the erosive action of the acids they contain. With a better understanding of our personal lifestyle choices coupled with the educated guidance of our profession, we can help to reduce the opportunities for erosive wear to occur.