Prevalence of erosive tooth wear in Chilean adults, 2016: A cross-sectional study

To determine the prevalence, severity and distribution of erosive tooth wear lesions in adult patients at the Universidad de los Andes Health Center in the San Bernardo Metropolitan Region, Chile, during a period of 4 months in 2016.

A cross-sectional study was conducted. A consecutive sample of patients from 18 to 46 years old who were receiving care at the Universidad de los Andes Health Center during a period from September 2016 to January 2017 was analysed. Basic erosive wear examinations (BEWEs) were performed by two calibrated examiners.

A total of 535 adults were included in this study. An erosive tooth wear prevalence of 97.9% was found in which at least one surface had a BEWE score of 2 or 3 as the highest score (98.56% for females and 95.8% for males). In the sample, 75.70% and 74.77% of individuals had at least one surface with a BEWE score of 3 at the second and fifth sextant, respectively. The median of cumulative BEWE scores was 12. The median by individual of the affected percentage of tooth surfaces with BEWE scores 2 or 3 was 19.70%.

We found a high prevalence of erosive tooth wear, mainly in the anterior group of teeth. No differences were found between the sexes, but a positive correlation with age was found. The percentage of surfaces affected was low or moderate.