Prevalence of Tooth Wear in Angle Class II Malocclusion Patients

Objectives: The present study aimed at evaluating the occurrence of tooth wear in Angle Class II malocclusion patients. Methods: Dental casts of 199 subjects were evaluated. The sample was divided into three groups with the following characteristics: G1 comprised 50 patients with normal occlusion, G2 comprised 42 patients with half to three quarters of Class II malocclusion and G3 comprised 107 patients with complete Class II malocclusion. Tooth wear was evaluated by means of using the Tooth Wear Index (TWI), which was performed by only one examiner (kappa> 0.90). Statistical analysis was performed by using Kruskal-Wallis and Dunnxs post hoc tests. The three groups were compared considering the frequency and the severity of wear in each surface, of each group of teeth (incisors, canines, premolars and molars). Results: In all the groups, the dental surfaces more attacked were the incisal of canines and the occlusal of premolars and molars. However, there was statistically significant difference between G1 when compared with G2 and G3 in occlusal surfaces of upper and lower molars. The same significance was found in those groups to incisal and oclusal surfaces of upper canines and premolars. In addition, when comparing G1 and G2, the difference was significant to the incisal of upper incisors. To G1 and G3 this difference occurred in the occlusal of lower premolars and in the lingual of lower premolars and molars (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results demonstrated that Angle Class II malocclusion patients presented greater prevalence of tooth wear when compared with patients of normal occlusion, especially in the incisal/occlusal surfaces. Class II malocclusion seems to accent the occurrence of tooth wear.