The progression of tooth erosion in a cohort of adolescents of mixed ethnicity

OBJECTIVES: To establish the prevalence of tooth erosion in a sample of 12-year-old children and to monitor changes over the subsequent 2 years. METHODS: A random sample of 1753 children aged 12 years was drawn from all 62 state maintained schools in Leicestershire. A total of 1308 were re-examined 2 years later. Erosion was recorded on incisors and first molars using an erosion index based upon that from the Children's Dental Health in the United Kingdom 1993 survey. A score was also allocated to each subject according to the most advanced lesion in the mouth. RESULTS: Erosion was present in 56.3% of subjects at age 12 and 64.1% at age 14. Deep enamel or dentine was eroded in 4.9% and 13.1% of subjects, respectively, at the same ages. One hundred and sixty-one (12.3%) children who were erosion-free at 12 years of age developed erosion over the subsequent 2 years. Boys had more erosion than girls, as did white compared to Asian children. Associations were found between erosion experience and social deprivation. CONCLUSION: New erosive lesions developed in 12.3% of the subjects between the ages of 12 and 14 years. New or more advanced lesions were seen in 27% of the children over the 2 years of the study. Males, white children and social deprivation were significantly associated with erosion experience.