The Prevalence of Dental Erosion in Children in Chengdu, China

Objective:This survey was to establish the prevalence of tooth erosion in a representative sample of 5-year-old and 12-year-old children in Chengdu, China. The study also was to determine the strength of association (expressed as Odds Rations) with tooth erosion in 5-year-old and 12-year-old children. Methods:The multilevel hierarchy, stratified, cluster, and random sampling method was performed. A random sample of 969 5-year-old children (525 were boys and 444 girls), 1142 12-year-old children (605 were boys and 547 girls) were examined in three schools by one qualified dentist. Tooth erosion was assessed using the index employed in the survey of Children's Dental Health in England and Wales (1993). The Townsend index was used to record deprivation. Multi-factors on tooth erosion also were investigated and analyzed by Logistic regression model in the study. Results:The results showed that 5-year-old children group had a prevalence of tooth erosion (12.4%) and 12-year-old children group had a higher prevalence of tooth erosion (24.8%)BThere was no significant difference between male and female respectively (P>0.05).The odds rations for tooth erosion were: sport drinks, 1.352; Madzoon, 1.299; fruit juice, 1.194; gastroesophageal reflux disease, 1.237; psychological behaviors, 1.257. The analysis of Logistic regression indicated that tooth erosion had closely correlations with acidic drinks or foods, gastroesophageal reflux disease, psychological behaviors etc. Conclusions:The prevalence of tooth erosions in Chengdu city appears to be lower than that seen in some study carried out in foreign countries. Further longitudinal studies should be conducted in China in order to measure its impact on children's quality of life. How to control predisposing factors and decrease the prevalence of tooth erosion is also needed to do further research.