Tooth Wear: Best Evidence Consensus Statement

Purpose The purpose of this Best Evidence Consensus Statement was to evaluate the impact of wear on teeth. Materials and Methods A search last updated on October 7, 2020 using the terms tooth wear, dental erosion, dental abrasion or dental attrition yielded 11,694 results. Limiting the search to clinical trials, cross-sectional investigations, randomized controlled trials, reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analysis yielded 1,769 results. Mechanistic in vitro studies were also added to the list of abstracts supplying additional information of the impact of wear on teeth. All abstracts were reviewed by two authors. Those relating to the focus question formed the evidence base which was used to formulate the response. Results From the search results, 212 articles were related to the research question and 60 were included in this paper. Although tooth wear prevalence is over 30% of the population in early adulthood and increases as individual's age, the impact on the dentition is poorly investigated in longitudinal clinical studies. Wear on teeth can result in alterations in shape and potentially dentine hypersensitivity depending on the etiology. However, the process is slow and pulpal death is rare. The impact that tooth wear has on the patient depends on patient characteristics to a greater extent than the severity of wear. Conclusions Tooth wear is a common condition and part of the ageing process. Erosive tooth wear is a term which acknowledges that acids are normally linked to progression, but mechanical actions of attrition and abrasion will cause visible damage. The changes to the shape of teeth on the macro and micro levels are used to investigate the progression, prevention, etiology, and management. The biological impact of wear on teeth is relatively innocuous and management is often a patient driven process.

Automated summary

The study found that tooth wear is common in more than 30% of the population in early adulthood and increases with individual age, but its impact in long-term clinical studies is still poorly investigated. Tooth wear can result in shape alterations and dentine hypersensitivity, but the process is slow and pulpal death is rare. The impact of tooth wear on patients depends more on patient characteristics than the severity of wear.