Occupational dental erosion from exposure to acids--a review

Objective Dental erosion is characterized as a disorder with a multifactorial aetiology including environmental acid exposure. The purpose of this article was to summarize and discuss the available information concerning occupational dental erosion. Methods Information from original scientific papers, case reports and reviews with additional case reports listed in PubMed, Medline or EMBASE [search term: (dental OR enamel OR dentin) AND (erosion OR tooth wear) AND (occupational OR worker)] were included in the review. References from the identified publications were manually searched to identify additional relevant articles. Results The systematic search resulted in 59 papers, of which 42 were suitable for the present review. Seventeen papers demonstrated evidence that battery, galvanizing and associated workers exposed to sulphuric or hydrochloric acid were at higher risk of dental erosion. For other industrial workers, wine tasters and competitive swimmers, only a few clinical studies exist and these do not allow the drawing of definitive conclusions. Conclusion Occupational acid exposure might increase the risk of dental erosion. Evidence for occupational dental erosion is limited to battery and galvanizing workers, while data for other occupational groups need to be confirmed by further studies.