"Risk" Assessment, Preventive Measures and Changing Behaviour.

Abstract

Any preventive measure or behaviour change from the patient can only be based on a thorough assessment of the factors involved in erosive tooth wear (ETW). Patient assessment, in turn, runs hand in hand with a good detection of the ETW lesions and their progression. This chapter presents an overview of how to assess ETW lesions, monitor their progression and assess the factors related to the condition, in order to discuss preventive measures. Clinical assessment can be made with clinical indexes, like the basic erosive wear examination, while monitoring can also include accessory methods, like photographs, casts, intra-oral scanning, etc. Ideally, ETW lesions should be detected in their early stages, which will then prompt the health professionals to identify the factors involved in the condition. For that, dental health professionals can make use of dietary assessments and verify salivary parameters, eating disorders and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Susceptible patients, like those who use drugs and specific medications and/or who are exposed to environmental or occupational threats, should also be assessed. Once the factors are identified to each individual case, preventive measures can then be tailored to each patient, to hinder the progression of lesions and/or to deal with any dentine hypersensitivity arising from exposed dentine.