Noncarious Cervical Lesions: Correlation between Abfraction and Wear Facets in Permanent Dentition

Non-carious cervical lesions (NCCLs) are defined as the loss of dental hard tissue at the cementenamel junction. Erosion, abrasion, and attrition have been associated with this disorder. Objective: Recently, occlusal stress causing of cervical enamel cracks (abfraction) has been considered as an additional etiology for NCCLs to facilitate the erosion and abrasion mechanisms in tooth wear. Study Design: The prevalence of NNCLs and wear facets in a population with permanent dentition in absence of any clear etiological factors related to erosion and abrasion causes is evaluated. A total 295 subjects are enrolled for this study and divided into four age groups (subjects aged 15 27 years, 28 42 years, 43 57 years and 58 75 years respectively). An overall of 6629 teeth are investigated to find NCCLs and wear facets. The occlusion is analyzed in each patient. Results: An overall of 801 teeth (12%) show NCCLs and 623 of them (78%) highlight also wear facets. The higher number of teeth with NCCLs and of these with simultaneous presence also of wear facets are found on teeth of patients of group-3 (11% of all teeth examined for group and 81% respectively) and to group-4 (24.4% of all teeth examined for group and 86.5% respectively) of remaining teeth without NCCLs (5828) only 138 (2.4%) shown wear facets. Conclusion: The results of this study held the occlusal forces as the main cause of NCCLs on teeth in presence of wear facets.