Erosive Tooth Wear and Beverage Consumption Among US Adults

Abstract

Objective: We investigated the prevalence of erosive tooth wear (ETW), juice/drink consumption and associated factors in adults in the United States. Methods: We used the National Health and Nutrition Examinations Survey data for 2003-2004. ETW is defined as erosive tooth wear on at least one surface of at least one examined tooth. Drink/juice consumption collected via a Food Frequency Questionnaire was processed with DietCalc software to obtain average daily consumption frequency for all queried drinks and juice categories including milk. Survey-weighted descriptive and multivariable analyses with interaction terms were performed.

Results: Our study sample consisted of 3773 adults (20 years and above) and 80% had evidence of erosive tooth wear. We found significant difference in the percent of ETW for age (lowest in 20-24 year old 63%), gender (lowest in female 76%) and race/ethnicity (lowest in African American 65%). Among those with and without ETW, consumption of soft drink was highest and that of tomato/vegetable juice was lowest. There was a significant difference in the consumption of fruit juice, milk and tomato/vegetable juices among those with and without ETW (p<0.005). After adjustment for demographic factors, drink/juice consumption was not predictive of ETW.

Conclusion: We found substantial levels of erosive tooth wear in adults that is affected by demographic factors in a complex way. Drink/juice consumption in adults were not associated with ETW after adjusting for demographics.