Dental erosion has been defined in literature as a superficial loss of dental hard tissue, following a chemical process without the participation of microbial agents. At worldwide level, prevalence varies, due to the examination criteria applied for the population under investigation, as they usually address dental erosions in general, and not specifically the paediatric level, which makes difficult any comparison among the results obtained. Aim. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dental erosion in a community of children in the district of Iasi. Materials and method. 334 children – 164 boys and 170 girls – were examined. To assess dental erosion, the occlusive surfaces of permanent and palate wisdom teeth were subdivided in several areas. Results. Out of the total number of investigated children, 65 cases (19.5%) with dental erosion were found. There were significantly more dental erosions in male patients (p =0.036), with a relative risk 1.87 times higher than in females (RR = 1.87, IC95%: 1.04 – 3.38), and in aged over 11 years (p = 0.00004), with a relative risk 2.79 times higher than in the group of age under 11 years (RR = 2.79, IC95%: 1.68 – 4.65), without any significance, however, as to the socio-economic status (p=0.257). In the 65 children with dental erosions, incipient erosions represented about 84.6%. The average number of teeth affected per child was 1.88. The average number of surfaces affected by dental erosion was 1.89 and the location of damage did not differ significantly between age groups (p = 0.604).
Conclusions. To prevent erosion at young age, it is very important to reduce the severity of all types of tooth wear and its effects over time.