The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of dental erosion in an adult population in Switzerland. 391 randomly selected persons from two age groups (26-30 and 46-50 yr) were examined for frequency and severity of erosion on all tooth surfaces. Information was gathered by interview about lifestyle, dietary and oral health habits. For facial surfaces 7.7% of the younger age group and 13.2% of the older age group showed at least one tooth affected with erosion with involvement of dentin (grade 2). 3.5 teeth per person in the younger and 2.8 teeth per person in the older age group were affected. Occlusally, at least one severe erosion was observed in 29.9% of the younger and 42.6% of the older sample with 3.2 and 3.9 erosion-affected teeth per person, respectively. 3.6% of the younger age group and 6.1% of the older age group showed slight lingual erosion on the maxillary anterior teeth. Severe lingual erosions were scarce. Data from interviews and multiple regression analyses revealed that acids from beverages are significantly associated with presence of erosion.

The study tested the effects of supervised chlorhexidine digluconate (CH) mouthrinses on plaque and gingivitis in school children. 158 children (aged 10–12 years) participated in the study. They were divided into four groups matched according to age, sex. DMFS, and GI. Following a sealing and prophylaxis procedure. Group A was assigned to daily mouthrinses 6 times per week using a .2 % solution of CH. Group B used the same solution only twice per week, and Group C was assigned to daily rinsing using a .1 % solution of CH. Group D served as control and rinsed daily with a placebo solution. All the rinsings were supervised and timed for 30 seconds. No attempt was made to influence the oral hygiene habits of the children. Prior to the initial prophylaxis and after 6 months of supervised rinsing, plaque was scored using the Plaque Index (PII), and gingivitis was assessed using the Gingival Index (GI). Calculus was scored according to the Calculus Surface Index (CSI), and stain was also graded. DMFS indices were assessed using clinical and radiographic examinations. At the end of the study plaque was significantly reduced in all CH groups when compared with the controls, and calculus increased significantly in all CH groups. In Group A the GI dropped from .88 to .15 and in Group C from .80 to .24. In Group B the GI dropped from .79 to .38. In the control group a slight reduction from GI = .93 to GI = .75 was noted. The study has shown that gingivitis can be controlled successfully on a longitudinal basis using .1 % or .2 % mouthrinses of CH as an adjunct to daily toothbrushing.

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Dental plaque was collected from approximately 3,500 schoolchildren, and immediately pooled and frozen. The lyophilized plaque was processed in several batches as follows:After an aqueous extraction the water-insoluble portion was further extracted with 1 N KOH. Both aqueous and alkaline extracts were further subfractionated by precipitation at different ethanol concentrations. Nature and composition of carbohydrates in sub-fractions were investigated using acid hydrolysis and end products were identified by gas liquid partition chromatography.29.6% of plaque dry weight, containing 6.9% carbohydrates, 1.2% nitrogen and more than 4% proteins, were water-soluble. The water-insoluble portion (67.1%), contained 11.3% carbohydrates and 7.4% nitrogen; in addition, 30.7% constituents insoluble in 1 N KOH were found. In all subfractions prepared by ethanol precipitations, substantial amounts of material other than carbohydrates were found. The sugar composition of hydrolysates showed glucose to be the main sugar constituent; however, small amounts of pentoses, other hexoses and disaccharides were also present. The water-insoluble matrix polysaccharides containing predominantly α-1,3 linkages were calculated to account for 1.35% of the plaque dry weight/ 5.6% of the plaque dry weight consisted of low molecular water-soluble carbohydrates. Glucose and oligosaccharides forming the bulk of this fraction were assumed to represent intermediates resulting from enzymatic breakdown of α-1,6-linked dextran. The high content of fermentable carbohydrates in dental plaque suggests that microbial activity is not limited by the supply of fermentable substrates.