MEASUREMENT OF TOOTH WEAR IN PATIENTS WITH PALATAL EROSION

Aim To develop a reproducible method for the assessment of tooth wear in vivo using a laser profilometer. Design A controlled study to measu re tooth wear. Subjects and methods Wear was measured over a 6-month p eriod in 13 patients with unexplained palatal dental erosion and compa red with a group of 7 controls without any evidence of abnormal wear. Main outcome measures Metal disks were cemented to the tooth surface a nd impressions taken at 6-month intervals. Wear was estimated by scann ing the impressions with a contacting laser profilometer and measuring a change in depth around the disk over a 6-month period using fixed r eference points on the metal disks. Results A statistically significan t difference was observed between patients with palatal erosion and th e controls. Patients with erosion had a median of 36.5 mu m of wear ov er 6 months (range 17.6-108.2) and the controls had a median of 3.7 mu m (range(0.5-15.8). Conclusions This paper presents a novel method fo r measuring erosion using fixed reference points cemented to the palat al surfaces of upper incisor teeth.