COMPARISON OF THE PREVALENCE, SEVERITY AND POSSIBLE CAUSES OF OCCLUSAL TOOTH WEAR IN 2 YOUNG-ADULT POPULATIONS

Most reports of the prevalence and severity of tooth wear in contemporary Western populations claim that advanced wear is uncommon by comparison with certain non-Western populations. Differing methods of wear evaluation in the various studies, however, preclude accurate comparisons from being made. This study records mean total and segmental wear indices obtained from the casts of a selected Swedish patient population sample, and age- and sex-matched Saudi high-wear and random samples. The wear experience of the Saudi random sample compared favourably with that of the Swedish selected one, while the wear of the Saudi high-wear sample was significantly higher than that of the Swedish sample (P < 0.01). The findings from a questionnaire revealed certain significant correlations between aetiological factors and wear, most notably, the relatively greater presence of bruxism (P < 0.01), absence of biting habits and minimal cola consumption (P < 0.01) in the Swedish sample. Harsh environmental and climatic conditions probably account for the Saudi experience of high wear.