Erosion of the teeth: prevalence and distribution in a group of Danish school children

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ABSTRACT

Aim

This was to describe the prevalence of eroded tooth surfaces among 15-17 years old school children in a Danish city
and to assess the reliability of diagnosis of erosions performed by 9 clinical examiners.

Methods

During a calendar year (2000) a
total of 558 children in 4 public schools in Aarhus were examined by 7 examiners and 2 coordinators using the following criteria: intact;
erosion confined to enamel; erosion exposing less than half of the dentine, and erosion involving more dentine than half the surface.

Results

It was found that 14.0 (95 CL: 11.3; 17.1) of the children had more than 3 surfaces eroded.
In the maxilla lingual surfaces were more affected than the facial surfaces. No lesions exposing more than half of the dentine were
observed. Despite a careful calibration, including a thorough discussion of the criteria and the experience gained during the study, a
substantial inter examiner difference in diagnosis was found.

Conclusion

The most frequently eroded sites were the lingual surfaces
of maxillary incisors; the identification of eroded areas is often difficult and subject to a low inter examiner reliability.

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