To Evaluate the Severity, Distribution of Occlusal Tooth Wear and its Correlation with Bite Force in Young North Indian Adults

AIM: To determine the severity and distribution of occlusal tooth wear among young North Indian adults and to evaluate the correlation of occlusal tooth wear with bite force. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 164 subjects were enrolled in the present study. Inclusion criteria included subjects with age range of 25-40 years having a full complement of natural dentition (excluding third molars), with no history of orthodontic treatment, FPD and trauma. Maxillary and mandibular casts of each subject were taken. Tooth wear score of anterior and posterior teeth of both the arches was calculated using a five-point (0 to 4) ordinal scoring system. The calculated tooth wear scores were then compared with data concerning age, sex, number of daily meals, vegetarian/non-vegetarian diet, Group function/Canine guided occlusion and bite force. Nonparametric (Mann-Whitney) test was used to determine the relationship between various factors and occlusal tooth wear. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to determine the correlation between tooth wear and bite force. RESULTS: After applying statistical analysis to the data collected, total tooth wear score of the whole sample was 30.07 ± 6.39. Anterior teeth had significantly higher wear score than posteriors (P < 0.01). Males showed significantly higher (P < 0.001) tooth wear in both arches factors such as bite force and age showed significant correlation with tooth wear (P=0.000), however, the number of meals taken per day did not show any significant correlation. Higher tooth wear loss was seen in non vegetarian dietary pattern but it was statistically insignificant. It was also found that Group function occlusion showed significantly higher mean tooth wear loss 45.76 ± 9.19 as compared to Canine guided occlusion 26.37 ± 10.68 (P=0.000).