Dental Erosion Epidemiological Survey In Patients On Alcoholic Detoxification - Bewe Approach

Introduction: Individuals with abusive alcohol behaviours are a risk group for dental erosion due to chronic and cumulative exposure to extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Objective: To quantify dental erosion prevalence and severity in alcoholic detoxification patients and to determine associated risk factors. Material and methods: Analytical cross-sectional study conducted to measure dental erosion in 300 institutionalized patients for alcohol detoxification in Withdrawal Units -"IDT Norte". A self-report questionnaire was registered, regarding socio-demographic characteristics, pathologies, alcohol/drugs consumption behaviours and oral hygiene measures. Clinical examination was performed with BEWE approach to quantify erosion. A logistic regression model was applied to identify variables/factors significantly associated to dental erosion risk (p = 0.05/0.10 inclusion/exclusion). Results: In 169 patients with quantified erosion, using BEWE, dental erosion prevalence was 100%; 62.1% categorized as having medium/high risk of dental erosion. Average cumulative BEWE score was 10.1±3.56. 83.3% men, overall mean age 42.2±8.6 years. Multivariate analyses showed that female gender (OR=23.0 (95%CI:2.5-212)) and, not using mouthwashes (OR=5.6(95%CI:1.7-20)) are significantly associated with medium/high risk of tooth erosion (p0.05). Time with gastro-oesophageal disease lasting more than 1 year is non-significantly associated with dental erosion risk (p=0.057, OR=3.2 (95%CI:0.96-10.7)). Conclusions: This population showed a high prevalence and medium/high risk for dental erosion and, female gender and not using mouthwashes are significantly associated with risk for dental erosion. Clinical Relevance: In dental erosion epidemiological analysis, BEWE approach makes possible to quantify and categorize the individual risk for dental hard tissues loss. Keywords: Erosion, alcoholism, BEWE, erosive wear, prevalence, erosive risk