Updates in association of gastroesophageal reflux disease and dental erosion: systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Dental erosion occurs by dissolving dental apatite when exposed to non-bacterial acids. One of the factors that predispose to dental erosion is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) due to chronic regurgitation of gastric contents to the oropharynx. Thus, in addition to other extraesophageal symptoms, individuals with GERD may have erosive dental lesions.Areas covered: The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the association and prevalence of erosive wear in patients with GERD. The bibliographic search was performed in the Pubmed and Web of Science databases, using the descriptors 'gastroesophageal reflux disease' AND 'dental erosion', considering clinical studies recently published from 2012 to 2020.Expert opinion: GERD can be considered a risk factor for the development of erosive dental lesions, whose prevalence was significantly higher in this group. However, several other factors can be commonly associated with the prevalence and severity of dental erosion among the world population, such as dietary habits, lifestyle, abrasion and bruxism. Thus, the prevalence and distribution of erosive lesions among healthy and GERD subjects varied widely among studies, which denotes the etiological complexity of dental erosion and reinforces the importance of careful and detailed anamnesis in order to establish an accurate diagnosis.

Keywords: Clinical trials; dental erosion; expert opinion; gastroesophageal reflux disease.