AN INVESTIGATION OF SOME FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH OCCLUSAL TOOTH WEAR IN A SELECTED HIGH-WEAR SAMPLE

The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of some factors associated with occlusal tooth wear in a selected high-wear Sw edish sample. The material comprised 59 persons having a mean age of 3 5 yr within the range 16-70 yr, the criteria for selection being a ful l or near-full complement of natural teeth. and the presence of defini te clinical signs of occlusal wear. A dentition wear index, in additio n to anterior, posterior, and arch subindices, was derived from a toot h-by-tooth evaluation of casts. Factors which were found to correlate significantly with increased occlusal wear were age, sex, self-percept ion of wear, number of teeth, and general health, as well as a number of variables from study-cast analysis. On the basis of the findings, n ot only is the multifactorial etiology of occlusal tooth wear a realit y, but so, too, is the complex interdependence of these factors in the severity of wear.