Dental erosive wear and salivary flow rate in physically active young adults
Aida Mulic, Anne Bjorg Tveit, Dag Songe, Hanne Sivertsen and Anne B Skaare
Published: 23 March 2012
Abstract (provisional)
Background
Little attention has been directed towards identifying the relationship between physical
exercise, dental erosive wear and salivary secretion. The study aimed i) to describe
the prevalence and severity of dental erosive wear among a group of physically active
young adults, ii) to describe the patterns of dietary consumption and lifestyle among
these individuals and iii) to study possible effect of exercise on salivary flow rate.
Methods
Young members (age range 18-32 years) of a fitness-centre were invited to participate
in the study. Inclusion criteria were healthy young adults training hard at least
twice a week. A non-exercising comparison group was selected from an ongoing study
among 18-year-olds. Two hundred and twenty participants accepted an intraoral examination
and completed a questionnaire. Seventy of the exercising participants provided saliva
samples. The examination was performed at the fitness-centre or at a dental clinic
(comparison group), using tested erosive wear system (VEDE). Saliva sampling (unstimulated
and stimulated) was performed before and after exercise. Occlusal surfaces of the
first molars in both jaws and the labial and palatal surfaces of the upper incisors
and canines were selected as index teeth.
Results
Dental erosive wear was registered in 64% of the exercising participants, more often
in the older age group, and in 20% of the comparison group. Enamel lesions were most
observed in the upper central incisors (33%); dentine lesions in lower first molar
(27%). One fourth of the participants had erosive wear into dentine, significantly
more in males than in females (p = 0.047). More participants with erosive wear had
decreased salivary flow during exercise compared with the non-erosion group (p < 0.01).
The stimulated salivary flow rate was in the lower rage ([less than or equal to] 1
ml/min) among more than one third of the participants, and more erosive lesions were
registered than in subjects with higher flow rates (p < 0.01).
Conclusion
The study showed that a high proportion of physically active young adults have erosive
lesions and indicate that hard exercise and decreased stimulated salivary flow rate
may be associated with such wear.
Comments