CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF NONCARIOUS CERVICAL LESIONS

An exploratory case-control study of non-carious cervical lesions was undertaken to examine the effects of a variety of risk factors. Candid ate exposure variables were related to erosion, abrasion, and tooth fl exure, the three principal putative causal mechanisms for cervical les ions. Because previous studies have tended to focus on specific causal mechanisms, evidence for a multifactorial etiology is inconclusive. D ata describing exposure factors were obtained through clinical examina tion, dietary and behavioral questionnaires, and analysis of study cas ts from 264 subjects (137 cases, 127 control). Salivary data were also obtained for a subset of these subjects. Patient and tooth-level logi stic regression models were constructed for the full subject group, an d the subset with salivary data. For the two patient-level models, onl y exposures related to brushing entered. For tooth-level models, multi ple exposures representing all three causal mechanisms were included i n both models. The results suggest that non-carious cervical lesions d o have a multifactorial etiology, and that multiple causal mechanisms may operate in the initiation and progression of individual lesions.