Bartlett D, O'Toole S. Tooth wear: Best Evidence Consensus Statement. J Prosthodont 2020; DOI: 10.1111/jopr.13312. Online ahead of print.

The impact that tooth wear has on the patient depends on patient characteristics to a greater extent than the severity of wear.

Thepurpose of this Best Evidence Consensus Statement was to evaluate the impact of wear on teeth. A search updated last in October 2020 using the terms tooth wear, dental erosion, dental abrasion or dental attrition yielded 11,694 results. Limiting the search to clinical trials, cross-sectional investigations, randomised controlled trials, reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses yielded 1,769 results. Mechanistic in vitro studies were also added. From the search results, 212 articles were related to the research question and 60 were included. Although tooth wear prevalence is over 30% of the population in early adulthood and increases as individuals age, the impact on the dentition is poorly investigated in longitudinal clinical studies. Wear on teeth can result in alterations in shape and potentially dentine hypersensitivity depending on the aetiology. The process is slow and pulpal death is rare. The impact that tooth wear has on the patient depends on patient characteristics to a greater extent than the severity of wear. Management is often a patient-driven process.