Tooth wear and erosive tooth wear among 16-year-old Malaysian adolescents

Introduction: General tooth wear (GTW) (indiscriminate of aetiology) and more specifically erosive wear (ETW) are relatively new emerging public health problems globally. Study about their prevalence has not been sufficiently explored in Malaysia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of GTW and ETW among 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out using multistage cluster sampling technique. The study group consisted of 16-year-old adolescents attending secondary schools in Kuantan. A total of 598 adolescents (228 males and 370 females) with a total of 16,521 teeth were examined from 5 different schools. The prevalence and severity of GTW and ETW were recorded using the Smith and Knight’s Tooth Wear Index (TWI) and the Basic Erosive Wear Examination (BEWE) index respectively. Results: The prevalence of GTW was 99.8% (597 subjects) at a subject level and 62.9% (10,400 teeth) at a tooth level. The most frequently affected surfaces were the incisal or occlusal surfaces (99.9%). As for the severity of GTW, most of the affected tooth surfaces (99.8%) exhibited surface loss limited to enamel only (TWI Score 1). The prevalence of ETW however was 45% (269 subjects) at a subject level and 2.7% (451 teeth) at a tooth level. The most frequently affected surfaces were again the incisal or occlusal surfaces (98.2%). Severity results of ETW showed that most of the affected tooth surfaces (98.9%) exhibited a BEWE score of 2 which meant distinct hard tissue loss ≤ 50% of the surface area. Conclusions: GTW and ETW among 16-year-old adolescents in Kuantan are highly prevalent and similar to some results published in western countries. The results of this study indicate that the local adolescents should be provided with oral health information regarding GTW and ESW. Similar studies should also be carried out in other cities in Malaysia.