Risk factors associated with tooth wear in teenagers: a case control study.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the association of various aetiological risk factors with tooth wear in 15-year-old school children.


METHODS
A case control study conducted one year after a prevalence study (Milosevic et al., 1994). The 80 children, identified from the prevalence study with palatally and/or occlusally exposed dentine, acted as cases. The control group were systematically selected from every tenth name on year registers. The only matching criteria were age, gender and school. All children answered a questionnaire detailing the risk factors and the tooth wear was further scored by one examiner (AM).


METHODS
Ten randomly selected schools in Liverpool.


METHODS
102 children participated out of a possible 160, an overall response rate of 64 per cent. Of the 54 controls, six had developed tooth wear into dentine during the 12-month interval following the prevalence study and were therefore excluded from the analysis.


RESULTS
The odds ratio on 37 matched pairs was 1.7 (95% CI 0.72, 3.87) for grinding and clenching teeth and 2.6 (95% CI 0.91, 7.45) for carbonated drink consumption. Eating pickled food other than pickled onions was significantly more frequent in cases than in controls. Other potential aetiological factors which were not significantly associated with tooth wear in this group of children included stomach upsets, frequency of tooth brushing, weight/body shape and drinking fruit juice or using ketchup/sauces. Conditional logistic regression analysis of the paired data showed that carbonated beverage consumption was on the borderline of significance (P = 0.055) as a predictor for tooth wear in teenagers either on its own or allowing for the effect of tooth grinding.


CONCLUSIONS
The frequent consumption of carbonated beverages is probably related to tooth wear. Future case control studies should seek to incorporate around 100 to 160 cases.
Milosevic
A
A
Department of Clinical Dental Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Liverpool, UK.
Lennon
M A
MA
Fear
S C
SC
D000293:Adolescent; D002253:Carbonated Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014072:Tooth Abrasion / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D014077:Tooth Erosion / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*