Prevalence and severity of tooth wear in 12 to 15 year old school children in the Gurgaon district, Haryana, India: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Tooth wear is an ever increasing problem. However, literature on tooth wear prevalence is scarce. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence and severity of tooth wear among 12 to 15 year old children of private schools of Farukhnagar block (Gurgaon) Haryana. Material and Methods: 973 school children in the age group of 12 to 15 year from the Gurgaon district were included in the study. All permanent teeth were examined by two trained calibrated examiners using CPITN probes in four surfaces, namely cervical (C), buccal (B), occlusal (O) or incisal (I) and palatal (P) or lingual (L) surface using Tooth Wear Index (TWI) . SPSS 19 was used for descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Results: A total of 26,230 teeth were examined. Overall prevalence of tooth wear was 29.7%. Most frequently af¬fected teeth were the Incisors (15.4%), followed by the Molars (7.4%). Incisal/occlusal surface was the most commonly affected surface. All the tooth wear lesions observed were mostly confined to the enamel (76.4%). Boys had statistically significant higher tooth wear prevalence (16.2%) compared to girls (13.5%). Dental fluorosis determined higher tooth wear prevalence (61.5%). Conclusion: There is high prevalence of tooth wear among school children, and boys have more tooth wear compared to girls. Dental fluorosis is associated with high risk for tooth wear. Thus tooth wear poses a significant public health problem, and steps should be taken for early diagnosis, prevention and management.