Dental erosion and acid reflux disease: an overview

Dental erosion can be difficult to detect, especially in the early stages when lesions are subtle and can be easily overlooked. Patients often are not aware of erosion until the dentition has sustained severe damage that requires extensive and expensive dental rehabilitation. The pH of stomach acid is much lower than the critical pH of enamel dissolution; therefore, reflux of stomach contents into the oral cavity over an extended period of time can cause severe loss of tooth structure. Dental treatment for reflux-induced erosion should focus not only on appropriate restoration but also on all available preventive measures, such as neutralization of acid and remineralization or strengthening of enamel against acid attack. Dentists must maintain a high degree of suspicion for reflux-induced erosion whenever a patient displays symptoms of acid reflux disease or a pattern of erosion that suggests an intrinsic source of acid exposure.