Methods: The teeth’s clinical appearance among 53 competitive swimmers from 6 to 23 years of age on a gas-chlorinated swimming pool was evaluated. The Eccles´ classification which is based on the clinical severity by visual examination of the tooth’s surface was applied. A questionnaire about dietary, occupational and medical exposures to acid was given to every subject. Swimmers with enamel or dentin hereditary alterations were not included in this study. Descriptive statistics, Pearson and the Fisher test were used.
Results: The prevalence of dental erosion was 32.08% in this group, all of which presented erosion only on the enamel. No significative difference was found between age, oral hygiene, gender, practice time, and consumption of candies with the appearance of dental erosion. Consumption of acidic fruits and beverages was significatively related to the appearance of dental erosion.
Conclusions: Tooth erosion was only located on the enamel surface despite that the prevalence of dental erosion was not statistically significant. From all the factors analyzed, consumption of acidic fruits and beverages was significantly related to the appearance of erosion in competitive swimmers.