Dental erosion, an extraesophageal manifestation of gastroesophageal reflux disease: the experience of a center for digestive physiology in Southeastern Mexico

Abstract

Background: Dental erosion (DE) is the loss of the hard tissues of the tooth produced by the action of gastric juice, pepsin and acid on the dental enamel, its frequency ranges from 5to 53.41%. In Mexico there are no reports on the frequency and possible association. Objective: To establish the prevalence of dental erosion and its relationship to GERD. Patients and methods: Prospective, observational, descriptive and comparative study was conducted in 60patients diagnosed with GERD and 60healthy patients at the Institute of Medical and Biological Research of the Universidad Veracruzana in Veracruz city. Anthropometric characteristics, dietary habits, oral hygiene, alcohol consumption, smoking, ED index and Index of decayed/missing dental pieces/sealed and correlation between severity of ED and GERD were analyzed. Results: 78.67% of patients with GERD had ED, 23.33% corresponded to grade 0, 41.67% to N1, N2and 23.33% to 11.67% to N3. Predominance of females (2.3:1). The mean age was 50.92± 13.52years. The severity of dental erosion was significantly related to the severity of reflux, halitosis, CPO index and poor eating habits. There was no statistically significant difference in the other variables analyzed. Conclusions: Dental erosion has a high frequency in patients with GERD and reflux characteristics are directly related to their severity and therefore should be considered as a manifestation of GERD extraesophageal.

Keywords

• Erosión dental
• Enfermedad por reflujo gastroesofágico
• Prevalencia