The Prevalence of Tooth Wear and Their Associated Etiologies Among Adult Subjects Visiting Umm Al-Qura University Dental Clinic in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

In the past two decades, changing trends in socioeconomic status, dietary habits, and individual lifestyles of individuals have led to the emergence of tooth wear as an oral health problem. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence and the associated etiologies of tooth wear in a convenience sample of adult patients visiting outpatient clinics of the Faculty of Dentistry at Umm Al-Qura University. This cross-sectional study was conducted on adult patients (18-40 years old) visiting outpatient clinics of the Faculty of Dentistry, Umm Al-Qura University. Two trained examiners visually assessed patients’ tooth wear using Smith and Knight’s Tooth Wear Index (TWI). Following the clinical examination, patients completed a self-administered questionnaire detailing risk factors such as the frequency of intake of acidic food and medicines, general health, chewing habits, dietary factors, and oral health-associated preventive behaviors. The resulting collected data were tabulated and statistically analyzed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS, version 21; IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Armonk, NY). The total prevalence of tooth wear was 74%, and the recorded mean wear score (TWI) was 0.380 ± 0.386; anterior teeth exhibited greater wear than posterior teeth. Numerous associations were recorded between tooth wear and the tested variables in demographics, habits, diet, and medications, but most of them were not statistically significant. When toothbrushing habits were explored, the only factors to played a significant role in abrading the tooth structure were the type of brush bristles used (P-value = 0.026) and the frequency of brush renewal (P = 0.043). Patients who frequently ate citrus fruits and other acidic foods recorded high wear scores (0.509 ± 0.311 and 0.508 ± 0.402, respectively), although the difference was not statistically significant. When chewing occurred on both sides of the mouth, less tooth wear was recorded than if chewing was on the right or left side only (0.371 ± 0.260, 0.422 ± 0.273, and 0.520 ± 0.419, respectively). The study data support an association between tooth wear and patient occupation, use of hard-bristled and new toothbrushes, eating of citrus and other acidic food, and chewing on one side, as all of these factors increased the risk of tooth wear.