Education About Dental Erosion in U.S. and Canadian Dental Schools

Dental erosion (DE) is a well-accepted multifactorial form of tooth wear involving acids. Due to its irreversible nature, recognizing the early signs is important to develop appropriate preventive strategies. However, its place in dental curricula remains unclear. Consensus has not been established regarding the integration of erosive tooth wear into core cariology curricula in North America. The extent to which DE is taught is questionable since etiology, risk assessment, and management are not all the same as for dental caries. The aim of this study was to survey U.S. and Canadian dental schools regarding their teaching of DE. Email invitations were sent to deans, chairs, and selected faculty members at all 76 U.S. and Canadian dental schools in 2016, asking them to either respond or forward the survey-link provided to the appropriate person in their school. Responses from the same school were combined for analysis. Respondents from 59 schools (77.6% response rate) responded to the survey, and all of them confirmed the inclusion of DE in their curricula. However, only 15.3% of respondents identified correctly all the clinical signs of DE. Although management through behavioral intervention was prioritized, diet analysis was often not a clinical requirement, and 45.8% of respondents did not teach any type of tooth wear index for monitoring. This study concluded that DE has a place in dental curricula, but whether this topic is adequately covered is questionable. There is a need to establish clearer topics and requirements emphasizing the diagnosis and management of DE, potentially in cariology curricula.