Dental erosive wear among Norwegian wine tasters.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence and severity of dental erosive wear among a group of professional wine tasters.


METHODS
Eighteen wine tasters currently employed at AS Vinmonopolet, Norway (3 women, 15 men; mean age 39 years) and 30 comparison participants (9 women, 21 men; mean age 39 years) were included in the study. The wine tasters were examined by four calibrated clinicians using the Visual Erosion Dental Examination system. Data concerning medical and dietary history, oral hygiene habits and occupational background were obtained from a self-completed questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test, and examiner agreement was determined by means of linear-weighted kappa and the intra-class correlation coefficient.


RESULTS
Nine (50%) of the wine tasters and six (20%) of the comparison group showed clinical signs of dental erosion. Among the wine tasters, 39% had dentine involvement, compared to just 7% of the comparison group. The erosive lesions were mainly found on the occlusal surfaces of mandibular first molars in the wine tasters, whereas for the controls, the palatal surfaces of upper centrals were most often affected.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a significant difference in the prevalence of dental erosive wear between the two groups, the wine tasters having a higher prevalence and more severely affected surfaces than the comparison group. Half of the wine tasters had no erosive wear and, for the other half, there was no relationship between the duration of their professional life and the extent of erosive wear.
Mulic
Aida
A
Departments of Cariology, University of Oslo, Norway. aida.mulic@odont.uio.no
Tveit
Anne Bjørg
AB
Hove
Lene Hystad
LH
Skaare
Anne B
AB
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D019649:Food Industry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D015588:Observer Variation; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014077:Tooth Erosion / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014920:Wine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult