Ricerc@Sapienza

BACKGRO UND: Dental erosion, which is the irreversible
loss of hard tissues of the tooth due to a chemical process on
the dental surface, sees the presence of acids as a fundamental
prerequisite: erosive wear is complex and depends on the
interaction of biological, chemical and behavioral disorders,
making it a multi-factor etiology injury. This preliminary
study aims to show the correlations between Eating Disorders
and the onset of dental erosion, from the point of view of clinical
objectivity and focusing on the subjective perception of
oral health in this type of patients. The long-term goal is also
to promote an interdisciplinary collaboration to deepen the
knowledge of the most frequent oral and perioral manifestations
in people affected by Eating Disorders and to determine
operational, preventive and clinical paths.
Methods: This study was conducted by evaluating oral
health in two experimental groups organized in a coherent
way by number of participants, gender and age. In the
first phase, the complete Italian version of the Oral Health
Impact Profile 49 (OHIP 49) on the Oral Health related
Quality of Life (OHrQoL) was administered to both groups.
A dental visit was then proposed to all patients whose data
concerning the experience of caries (D3MFT), periodontal
health (CPI) and the presence of erosions (BEWE) were
recorded on a specific clinical chart.
RESULTS: The summary of the OHIP-49 questionnaire
reported that the Study Group was the one with the greatest
perception of oral health interference on the quality of
life, especially regarding psychological and social disability,
with repercussions on the sleep-wake rhythm and consequent
depression, difficulty in concentration or relaxation
and impediments in social relationships. From the objective
examination, in the Studio Group the average BEWE score
was 2.0 compared to 0.9 of the control group; the CPI was
found to be 2 (presence of tartar) in 57.9% of patients with
DCA (against 9.4% of the Control Group) and the total DMFT
in the two groups was 9.2 and 4.2 respectively .
CONCLUSIONS: In the last twenty years various studies
in the literature report a significant prevalence of enamel
erosions in patients with eating disorders. The incidence of
these disorders is constantly increasing, therefore more and
more dentists and dental hygienists, through intra-oral clinical
examination, will play a fundamental role in the identification
and early diagnosis of such food pathologies. To further
investigate the perception that these patients have of their oral
health status about both their daily life and their relationship
with themselves and others may be important for their clinical
management.