Occlusal wear and occlusal condition in a convenience sample of young adults

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

In this longitudinal study, those with anterior protected occlusion showed less tooth wear, particularly of the premolar teeth.

Main

Van't Spijker A, Kreulen CM et al. J Dent 2015; 43: 72–77

Cross-sectional studies are not able to establish the direction of association between tooth wear and an occlusal scheme. This study compared data recorded at baseline and after 3 years, in a convenience sample of 28 dental students. Disclusion was identified by the use of 12 μm polyethylene foil (Shim Stock, Hahnel). Tooth wear was recorded on a flatbed scanner using dental casts. Regression analysis was used to look for associations between tooth wear and different occlusal configurations, 'spatial relationship of anterior teeth', 'history of orthodontic treatment' and 'self-reported grinding/clenching'. There was less overall tooth wear in those subjects who had anterior guidance compared with group function. Counterintuitively, those who reported grinding/clenching of their teeth did not show increased tooth wear. This study used a semi two-dimensional method to measure wear assessment. It was conceded that this method, as opposed to a three-dimensional method, has particular shortcomings when measuring wear of incisor teeth.