Dental erosion in deciduous teeth - an in vivo and in vitro study

Objective: The aims of this study were to report on severe dental erosion a nd its associated etiological factors in deciduous teeth of Saudi children (n = 16, (X) over bar = 6.5 years, R = 5-8) in vivo, and to confirm (or rej ect) the clinical diagnosis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Another aim was to study progression of erosion in vitro using extracted healthy de ciduous and permanent teeth. Method: For the in vivo study, a questionnaire and clinical examination was completed, medical history obtained and exfoliated eroded teeth (n = 8) ex amined by SEM. For the in vitro study, enamel specimens were prepared from Saudi (n = 21) and Finnish (n = 19) deciduous teeth as well as Finnish perm anent teeth (n = 20), immersed in 2% citric acid for 5-30 min, microhardnes s measurements performed, and the specimens studied by SEM. Results: The in vivo investigation showed that high intake of acidic drinks arid fruits, upper respiratory tract problems and frequent medications may constitute possible etiological and/or aggravating factors for severe dent al erosion in Saudi children. Deciduous tooth enamel was softer than perman ent tooth enamel. SEM showed no clear differences in the ultrastructure of the enamel specimens amongst the three groups. The clinical diagnosis of se vere dental erosion in those cases studied was reliable as verified by SEM. Conclusions: The presence of dental erosion in children is likely to be ass ociated with a number of general health and dietary factors but is also agg ravated by the relatively more rapid progression of erosion in the deciduou s teeth. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.