Chronic exposure of the teeth to gastric acid can result in erosions of the dental surfaces. Eccles and Jenkins developed a grading scale for the severity of these erosions.
Features of erosions:
(1) enamel no longer appears smooth and glazed; in severe cases the approximal surfaces of the incisors may appear translucent
(2) concavities at the cervical (neck) region along either the lingual or labial side; these are usually wider than they are deep
(3) loss of enamel surrounding amalgam restorations; corrosion of amalgam material
(4) "cupping" or grooved, depressed appearance affecting the edges of the incisors or the cusp tips of the molars
Surfaces examined on each tooth:
(1) occlusal
(2) lingual
(3) buccal/ facial
Appearance of Tooth Surface
Grade
no involvement of surface
0
loss of enamel surface features; no dentin involvement
1
exposure of dentin on less than one third of surface
2
exposure of dentin on a third of the surface or more
3
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