Occlusal tooth wear in the general population of Germany: Effects of age, sex, and location of teeth

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Tooth wear is an increasing problem in a society where people are living longer.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of age, sex, and location of teeth on the severity of tooth wear and to determine the prevalence of dentin exposure in the general population of Germany.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Tooth wear was measured in casts of both jaws of 836 persons with a 6-point (0-5) ordinal rating scale. Linear random-intercept regression models with the covariates of age, sex, jaw, and tooth group (with the participant as a grouping variable) were computed to determine the association of these covariates with tooth wear of a single tooth.

RESULTS: The mean tooth wear score across all age groups, both sexes, and all teeth was 2.9 (standard deviation, 0.8), and the prevalence of teeth with exposed dentin was 23.4%. The participants' age was correlated with the mean tooth wear scores (r=0.51). The tooth wear level among women was on average 0.15 units lower than among men, and tooth wear was on average 0.59 units higher for anterior teeth than for posterior teeth.

CONCLUSIONS: Increased tooth wear in anterior teeth may be due to the initially predominant guidance by anterior teeth, with age-related linear progress in tooth wear. Occlusal tooth wear scores and dentin exposure increase with age.