Prevalence, incidence and distribution of erosion.
There is evidence that the presence of erosion is growing steadily. Due to different scoring systems, samples and examiners, it is difficult to compare the different studies. Preschool children from 2 to 5 years showed erosion on deciduous teeth in 1 to 79% of the subjects. Schoolchildren (aged from 5 to 9 years) already had erosive lesions on permanent teeth in 14% of the cases. In the adolescent group (aged between 9 and 20 years), 7 to 100% of the persons examined showed signs of erosion. Incidence data (the increase in the number of subjects presenting signs of dental erosion) was evaluated in four of these studies and presented average annual values between 3.5 and 18%, depending on the initial age of the examined sample. In adults (aged from 18 to 88 years) prevalence data ranged between 4 and 100%. Incidence data are scarce in this age group, and only one study was found analysing the increase of affected surfaces, showing an incidence of 5% for the younger and 18% for older age groups. In general, males present more erosive tooth wear than females. The distribution showed a predominance of affected occlusal surfaces (mandibular first molars) followed by facial surfaces (anterior maxillary teeth). Oral erosion was frequently found on maxillary incisors and canines. Overall, prevalence data are not homogeneous. Nevertheless, there is a trend towards a more pronounced rate of erosion in younger age groups. Furthermore, a tendency was found for more erosive lesions with increasing age and these erosions progressed with age.