Tooth wear in the deciduous dentition of 5- to 7-year-old children: risk factors

Excerpt

Erosion, attrition, and abrasion can cause tooth wear. When these causal factors coexist, they can interact. When that occurs, the lesions are combined results with usually no causative-specific clinical appearance or distribution. Several studies have reported that tooth wear is common in deciduous dentition, and that it may be more severe than in permanent dentition. The prevalence of tooth wear ranged from 30–100% in the children examined in this investigation. The higher susceptibility of deciduous dentition to tooth wear has tended to be attributed to its enamel being less thick than to its greater solubility in acid. Few studies have examined tooth wear in deciduous dentition in relation to possible causative factors. An association between the consumption of acidic drinks and tooth wear on the palatal surfaces of primary teeth has been already suggested. There is still no evidence that biological and behavioral risk factors affect the development and severity of tooth wear in deciduous dentitions. …