The socioeconomic impact of tooth wear in children. Dental erosion in 8 and 15-year olds in the Maltese islands : an epidemiological study

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of dietary, educational and behavioural variables on tooth erosion patterns in a cross-sectional study in a sample of 8- and 15-year olds. Methods: Ten percent (10%) of the current 8- and 15-year olds of the Maltese population were randomly selected. The sample was representative of geographical regions, gender and type of school attended (state, church and independent schools). Four hundred thirty nine (439) of 8-year and 555 of 15-year olds were examined in a standardized fashion. The subjects were asked to fill in a questionnaire to give an indication of their social, oral hygiene, dietary and medical history. The Basic Erosive Wear Examination Index (BEWE) was used to measure the erosion scores. Results: In both age groups a number of food and beverage items were significantly related to the levels of tooth erosion in both age groups. Likewise, socioeconomic aspects, such as the education levels of both parents, type of schooling and parental occupational status for the 8-year olds, were significantly associated with the level of tooth erosion. Oral hygiene habits were also significantly associated to tooth erosion in the 15-year olds. Multivariate linear regression models were carried out for both age groups- in the 8-year olds, the three significant variables were BMI, the family’s main breadwinner’s employment and brushing technique. In the 15-year old subjects, the likelihood of tooth wear incidence increased in the subjects when attending a public school, whose parents attained a low level of education, whose last visit to the dentist was triggered by pain, did not brush the teeth frequently and mostly consumed sugary beverages. Conclusions: This study indicates that dental erosion was associated with various behavioural and socioeconomic contributing factors which were observed to have a correlation to the incidence of the subjects’ tooth erosion.