Dental erosion: a salient manifestation of gastroesophageal reflux disease [GERD]

ABSTRACT

Gastro esophageal reflux disease [GERD] is a chronic disease which is usually ignored by the individual until the appearance of its complication. Aim and objective of the study was to find GERD prevalance,its correlation with dental erosion in the Pakistani community and its awareness among the diseased patients. This study was carried out at 3 different tertiary care centers of Lahore namely Punjab Dental Hospital, gastroenterology department of Shaikh Zayed Hospital and Mayo Hospital, 150 patients were seen at Punjab Dental Hospital for non carious dental lesion. Thirty patients were seen at Shaikh Zayed Hospital and 60 patients at Mayo Hospital gastroenterology department. Dental erosin grading was done according to Eceles and Jenkeis Erosin scale and recorded on a specifically designed close ended questionnaire SPSS version 11 was used to analyze results. Patients with dental erosion were pre-dominantly related to GERD both symptomatic and asymptomatic and erosion manifested as a common sign for GERD. General dental practitioners should identify for this specific sign and refer the patient for complete medical evaluation to assist in early diagnoses of the disease and aid in reducing its frequency and progress