Dental erosion in patients affected by eating disorders: a preliminary study

BACKGRO UND: Dental erosion, which is the irreversibleloss of hard tissues of the tooth due to a chemical process onthe dental surface, sees the presence of acids as a fundamentalprerequisite: erosive wear is complex and depends on theinteraction of biological, chemical and behavioral disorders,making it a multi-factor etiology injury. This preliminarystudy aims to show the correlations between Eating Disordersand the onset of dental erosion, from the point of view of clinicalobjectivity and focusing on the subjective perception oforal health in this type of patients. The long-term goal is alsoto promote an interdisciplinary collaboration to deepen theknowledge of the most frequent oral and perioral manifestationsin people affected by Eating Disorders and to determineoperational, preventive and clinical paths.Methods: This study was conducted by evaluating oralhealth in two experimental groups organized in a coherentway by number of participants, gender and age. In thefirst phase, the complete Italian version of the Oral HealthImpact Profile 49 (OHIP 49) on the Oral Health relatedQuality of Life (OHrQoL) was administered to both groups.A dental visit was then proposed to all patients whose dataconcerning the experience of caries (D3MFT), periodontalhealth (CPI) and the presence of erosions (BEWE) wererecorded on a specific clinical chart.RESULTS: The summary of the OHIP-49 questionnairereported that the Study Group was the one with the greatestperception of oral health interference on the quality oflife, especially regarding psychological and social disability,with repercussions on the sleep-wake rhythm and consequentdepression, difficulty in concentration or relaxationand impediments in social relationships. From the objectiveexamination, in the Studio Group the average BEWE scorewas 2.0 compared to 0.9 of the control group; the CPI wasfound to be 2 (presence of tartar) in 57.9% of patients withDCA (against 9.4% of the Control Group) and the total DMFTin the two groups was 9.2 and 4.2 respectively .CONCLUSIONS: In the last twenty years various studiesin the literature report a significant prevalence of enamelerosions in patients with eating disorders. The incidence ofthese disorders is constantly increasing, therefore more andmore dentists and dental hygienists, through intra-oral clinicalexamination, will play a fundamental role in the identificationand early diagnosis of such food pathologies. To furtherinvestigate the perception that these patients have of their oralhealth status about both their daily life and their relationshipwith themselves and others may be important for their clinicalmanagement.