Structured review of enamel erosion literature (1980–1998): a critical appraisal of experimental, clinical and review publications

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To attain an objective account of the methods to measure enamel erosion used in 1980–1998 publications, a structured review of the literature was undertaken. METHODS: Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to 731 clinical/experimental research and review reportS. Eighty‐five included papers were subsequently rated according to ‘hierarchy of evidence’ guidelines to assess the strength of the report's design and the relevance of the evidence to replicating enamel erosion in vivo in humanS. Scores were assigned to rate each aspect in the guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 16 clinical, 13 review and 56 experimental papers were assessed; 36.4% were published during 1996–1998.Excluding reviews, 16 papers were qualitative and 56 quantitative; 51 used human enamel. Our classification yielded nine groups of methods (five scoring systems and 26 measurement techniques).CTFPHE (Can Med Assoc J 1992; 147: 443) grading of research reports indicated that 2.8% provided evidence grade I; 20.8%, grade IIa; 63.9%, grade III; and 12.5%, grade IV. CONCLUSIONS: There has been a consistent increase in the body of knowledge. The overall quality of publications has not substantially changed over time. Experimental studies were more often quantitative, and quantitative studies had better research designS. No single group of research methods had obviously superior research designs.

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

“…Some of these studies indicated association of acidic drink consumption with tooth wear on palatal surfaces of primary teeth [10-12, 14-18, 20]. There is also scarce clinical evidence concerning the effect of biological and behavioral risk factors on the development and severity of tooth wear in deciduous dentition [21]. The purposes of the present study were to assess the distribution and severity of tooth wear in a sample of 5-7-year-old children living in the city of Piraeus, Greece and to investigate retrospectively the effect of exposure to several erosive and abrasive risk factors.…”

Is diagnosing exposed dentine a suitable tool for grading erosive loss?

“…This review illustrates the problems that clinicians and researchers have experienced in quantifying tooth erosion. Assessing the degree of erosion in an individual may be difficult [ 32 ], but is important, as it reflects net exposure to the erosive forces and the opposing forces of protection, for example from saliva. Grading erosion present plays a part in the assessment of the problem, the need for treatment and, potentially, may indicate means for prevention of further tooth wear.…”

Relationship between fluorescence loss of QLF and depth of demineralization in an enamel erosion model

“…Erosion of tooth surfaces occurs when the latter are frequently exposed to acid 1) . A worrying trend emerges in that the prevalence of dental erosion is on the increase.…”