Caries Res. 2002 Jul-Aug;36(4):281-7.
College of Dentistry, The Ohio State University, Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio 43017, USA. mathew.15@osu.edu
Acidic soft drinks, including sports drinks, have been implicated in dental erosion with
limited supporting data in scarce erosion studies worldwide. The purpose of this study
was to determine the prevalence of dental erosion in a sample of athletes at a large
Midwestern state university in the USA, and to evaluate whether regular consumption of
sports drinks was associated with dental erosion. A cross-sectional, observational study
was done using a convenience sample of 304 athletes, selected irrespective of sports
drinks usage. The Lussi Index was used in a blinded clinical examination to grade the
frequency and severity of erosion of all tooth surfaces excluding third molars and
incisal surfaces of anterior teeth. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather
details on sports drink usage, lifestyle, health problems, dietary and oral health
habits. Intraoral color slides were taken of all teeth with erosion. Sports drinks
usage was found in 91.8% athletes and the total prevalence of erosion was 36.5%.
Nonparametric tests and stepwise regression analysis using history variables showed no
association between dental erosion and the use of sports drinks, quantity and frequency
of consumption, years of usage and nonsport usage of sports drinks. The most significant
predictor of erosion was found to be not belonging to the African race (p < 0.0001). The
results of this study reveal no relationship between consumption of sports drinks
and dental erosion.