COMPARISON OF THE PREVALENCE, SEVERITY AND POSSIBLE CAUSES OF OCCLUSAL TOOTH WEAR IN 2 YOUNG-ADULT POPULATIONS

Most reports of the prevalence and severity of tooth wear in contempor ary Western populations claim that advanced wear is uncommon by compar ison with certain non-Western populations. Differing methods of wear e valuation in the various studies, however, preclude accurate compariso ns from being made. This study records mean total and segmental wear i ndices obtained from the casts of a selected Swedish patient populatio n sample, and age- and sex-matched Saudi high-wear and random samples. The wear experience of the Saudi random sample compared favourably wi th that of the Swedish selected one, while the wear of the Saudi high- wear sample was significantly higher than that of the Swedish sample ( P < 0.01). The findings from a questionnaire revealed certain signific ant correlations between aetiological factors and wear, most notably, the relatively greater presence of bruxism (P < 0.01), absence of biti ng habits and minimal cola consumption (P < 0.01) in the Swedish sampl e. Harsh environmental and climatic conditions probably account for th e Saudi experience of high wear.