Prevalence, severity and etiology of dental wear in patients with eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, distribution and associated factors of dental wear among patients with eating disorders (EDs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: An epidemiological cross-sectional survey was conducted by trained, calibrated examiners, using the dental wear index. The sample was composed of 30 patients with EDs (experimental group – G1) and 30 control patients without current or previous history of EDs (G2). A questionnaire was used to assess the etiological factors of dental wear. The univariate analyses using the Chi-square (χ(2)) test were used to compare the tooth wear prevalence between groups according to the surface and tooth (P > 0.05). RESULTS: The dental wear was similar for both group; however, the G1 presented more moderate wear in molars when compared with G2 (P = 0.048). The majority of EDs patients related have one or more oral habits (n = 26; 86.6%) and only 13.4% (n = 4) affirmed did not have oral habits. The etiological factors of tooth wear related with dental wear were biting objects (P = 0.04) and pain in temporomandibular disorders (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The highest prevalence of dental wear was observed in the molars teeth. Differences in the extent and pattern of dental wear were found in an individual, emphasized the relevance of clinical parameter.