A longitudinal study of tooth wear in orthodontically treated patients

The primary objective of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between incisal/occlusal tooth wear during the mixed dentition and subsequent wear of the adult dentition. Pretreatment orthodontic records taken during the mixed dentition (T1), as well as follow-up records taken an average of 20 years later (T2), were available for 223 orthodontically treated patients. Incisal/occlusal tooth wear was measured on a tooth-by-tooth basis from T1 and T2 stone casts with a four-category scoring system. Multiple regression analysis (R-2 = 0.33) indicated that wear could be predicted at a given age during adulthood from wear observed on the deciduous mandibular canines and molars at T1 (p < 0.0001). This predictive relationship was modified by the age at which the T1 wear was observed (p = 0.029) and possibly by the sex of the patient (p = 0.10). These results indicate that adult tooth wear is not independent of the tooth wear that occurred as a child. Bruxism is suggested as a possible common etiologic mechanism that may account for the relationship between childhood and adult tooth wear.