Prevalence of tooth wear and orthodontic anomalies in school-age children

Tooth wear is usually a physiological prоcess with multifactorial etiology. When it happens rapidly and causes visual or physical changes in the orofacial region, it becomes pathological tooth wear, which can be found in children also. Some of the risk factors that can contribute to the loss of tooth structure are bruxism, specific eating factors, orthodontic anomalies, etc. Aim The aim of the present study is to investigate the incidence and clinical characteristics of tooth wear in school-aged children and its association with orthodontic abnormalities. Material and Methods The object of the study are 262 children in 2 age groups - in elementary school (aged 7-10) and in middle school (aged 11-14). The examined children underwent a clinical examination, during which the following were registered: dental status, type, degree and prevalence of tooth wear and orthodontic malocclusions. After the examination, the parents of the examined children filled a questionnaire about the child’s general health, eating habits, bruxism, harmful habits, etc. The results were statistically processed with SPSS-19. Results Loss of tooth structures was found in 70.6% of the examined children without predominance in any of the sexes. The registered orthodontic anomalies had almost the same frequency – 66.4%, with a statistically significant correlation between the two examined findings. Conclusions Loss of tooth structure is common in the examined children and a statistical dependence was found between it and the presence of orthodontic anomalies.