Dental tooth surface loss and quality of life in university students.

Aim: To determine the relationship between toothwear into dentine and oral health-related quality of life impacts in a sample of university students not attending for dental treatment.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 1010 university students was undertaken. Clinical examination, including the Smith & Knight (1984) index of tooth erosion, was performed and completion of the Oral Health Impact Profile-49 (OHIP-49) measure of oral health-related quality of life was arranged.

Results: Seventy-seven per cent of the students had at least one tooth with tooth surface loss into dentine. Overall OHIP scores were similar for individuals with different levels of severity of tooth surface loss. Individuals with severe tooth surface loss were more likely to report that their appearance had been affected by, and that they had felt self-conscious because of, the condition of their mouth and teeth.

Conclusions: Tooth surface loss into dentine was prevalent among the young adults who were examined in this study. They reported that it had little impact on oral health-related quality of life at the non-clinical levels seen in this study.