Ewa Błaszczyk-Bębenek

Dental erosion is a result of the contact between tooth surfaces and acids, processes occur that result in progressive hard tooth tissue reduction. Its characterized by progressive and irreversible changes that not only affect the aesthetics of a tooth, but also oral health. Poor eating and hygienic habits, as well as some diseases, significantly increase the risk and rate at which erosion develops.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of young adults on the subject of dental erosion, and specifically to assess their knowledge about the nutritional factors that may predispose them to dental erosion.

The study involved 250 individuals between the age of 18–30 who were divided into two groups. The study was conducted in 2020 using a survey, and was then statistically analyzed using the STATISTICA PL 10 program (UJ license). Differences in the distributions between the two groups were verified using the chi-squared test and the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test at the significance level ≤0.05.

In results 13.2% of participants declared that they experience dental erosion The study has evaluated the general knowledge of the young adults as being sufficient. Most of the young adults did not differentiate dental erosion from tooth decay, and had difficulty in answering questions on nutritional and hygienic risk factors. The groups did not differ from each other in terms of general knowledge about dental erosion. Both groups had a similar frequency of consuming high dental erosion products and drinks (sweetened carbonated beverages, citrus fruits, energy or isotonic drinks). The groups also differed in terms of reported symptoms and diagnosed conditions, in which tooth sensitivity and eating disorders significantly affected young adults with dental erosion.

The young adults showed many gaps in their knowledge of dental erosion. That is why education plays a key role in this area and is extremely important, especially in regards to nutritional factors and hygienic habits.