Norasmatul Akma Ahmad

The association of tooth wear, diet and dietary habits in adults aged 18–30 years old☆

OBJECTIVE The association of acidic foods and drinks to the development of erosive tooth wear was investigated in a single cohort of adults aged 18-30 years. METHOD A tooth wear index was recorded on 1010 participants who had a mean age of 21.9 years (SD 0.1) and of which 70% were female and 30% males. Participants completed a previously validated questionnaire containing 50 questions about current and historical dietary habits. Data were analysed at the tooth level using odds ratio. RESULTS Tooth wear was statistically significantly associated to acidic foods and drinks with high titratable acidity and dietary habits, including drinking from a glass and holding drinks, (OR 5 and 6.5 respectively). A history of heartburn was statistically significantly associated to palatal dentine exposure (p≤0.05 and OR 7.6). CONCLUSION In this sample of adults, tooth wear was associated to a number of acidic dietary products and drinking habits.

A new index of tooth wear. Reproducibility and application to a sample of 18- to 30-year-old university students.

A modified wear index, in which the wear of enamel and dentine are recorded separately, is described. The index was applied to estimating the prevalence and extent of tooth wear in a single convenience sample of 18- to 30-year-old students attending a university in London. The subjects were examined under good lighting in a dental chair away from a dental school. A total of 707 females and 303 males were recruited with a mean age of 21.9 years (standard deviation = 0.1, range = 18–30) and examined by 3 trained and calibrated examiners. Intra-examiner intra-class correlation coefficients showed a range of 0.44–0.88. The unweighted κ scores were above 0.88 for enamel and dentine. The presence of enamel wear was common to all subjects, but 6.1% of the participants had more than one third of the tooth surface affected. Dentine was exposed on 5.3% of all surfaces, with the largest proportion accounting for less than 10% of the tooth surface (grade 1). The proportion of subjects with at least 1 surface with dentine exposed was 76.9% of the total population. The males had significantly more wear in dentine than the females (p = 0.001). The inter-examiner intra-class correlation coefficients for enamel and dentine were 0.87 and 0.92, respectively. The reproducibility of the index was comparable to other analyses and provides an opportunity to assess the prevalence of enamel wear in large population-based studies.

Dental tooth surface loss and quality of life in university students.

Aim To determine the relationship between toothwear into dentine and oral health-related quality of life impacts in a sample of university students not attending for dental treatment. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 1010 university students was undertaken. Clinical examination, including the Smith & Knight (1984) index of tooth erosion, was performed and completion of the Oral Health Impact Profile-49 (OHIP-49) measure of oral health-related quality of life was arranged. Results Seventy-seven per cent of the students had at least one tooth with tooth surface loss into dentine. Overall OHIP scores were similar for individuals with different levels of severity of tooth surface loss. Individuals with severe tooth surface loss were more likely to report that their appearance had been affected by, and that they had felt self-conscious because of, the condition of their mouth and teeth. Conclusions Tooth surface loss into dentine was prevalent among the young adults who were examined in this study. They reported that it had little impact on oral health-related quality of life at the non-clinical levels seen in this study.