Dental erosion in Brazilian children with gastroesophageal reflux disease

Objectives: To assess the occurrence of dental erosion (DE) and its associated factors in children with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Methods: A preliminary convenience sample of 11 children (6 boys and 5 girls), with positive diagnosis for GERD, who were patients from a public hospital located in Belo Horizonte, southeast Brazil, was included. Children were 22 months to 13 years-old (mean age 8.36, SD 4 years). A parent-reported questionnaire was filled out to collect information regarding socio-economic status, oral hygiene and dietary habits of the children. Children were examined at the hospital, using the O'Sullivan index to diagnosis of DE. Informed consent forms and ethical approval were obtained. The associations under study were assessed through the Fisher's exact test (p<0.05) Results: DE was observed in 36.4% of the patients and mainly affected enamel only (75.0%). Out of the 241 teeth examined, 7% had DE, being the palatal the most affected surface (58.8%). Elementary school was the highest level of education achieved by 45.5% of the parents and 63.6% of the families lived on a minimum wage salary per month. Most of the children brushed their teeth 3 times a day (81.8%) and 36.4% never used dental floss. Approximately 27.3% of the children drank carbonated drinks and ate fruit candies at least once a day. There was no statistically significantly association between dental erosion and family income, parents' educational level, oral hygiene or dietary habits (p>0.05). Conclusion: A significant proportion of children with GERD were affected by dental erosion. Sociodemographic characteristics, oral hygiene and diet were not associated with children's experience of erosion. External funding: CAPES, CNPq and FAPEMIG.