Re-examination of incisal tooth wear in children and adolescents

The material presented in this report was derived from a longitudinal study of the development and progress of incisal tooth wear in children and adolescents. The study group was established in 1991-1992 (baseline examination) and consisted of participants between 8 and 15 years of age. They were re-examined in 1993 (interim examination) and in 1994 (final examination). In all, 77 school children (30 females and 47 males) participated in the three examinations. The timespan between baseline and interim was on average 15 months and the period between interim and final examination averaged 16 months. The total observation period was approximately 32 months. Assessments of incisal wear was made on stone casts using the incisal wear index which was shown to have good reproducibility. The results demonstrated that the prevalence and severity of incisal wear had increased significantly with age. In general the rate of incisal wear progression was higher between baseline and interim than. between interim and final examination. In this respect certain differences between the tooth types seemed to exist. At baseline the relationship between age and incisal wear was positive and statistically significant for all tooth types. At the final examination the strength of this relationship had decreased for maxillary and mandibular central and lateral incisors. For canine teeth of both jaws the relationship between age and incisal wear was no longer statistically significant at the final examination.