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Dental erosion is the irreversible pathological loss of hard tissues, which are chemically dissolved by acids, especially through external means, such as diet (e.g., fruit juices, isotonic or energy drinks). Regular physical activity was associated with an increased risk of dental erosion, especially under the influence of frequent consumption of sports drinks.
There is a relationship between the development of dental erosion and regular physical activity, especially with the accompanying consumption of sports drinks.
Buczkowska-Radlińska et al. [22] analysed the prevalence of dental erosion among competitive and recreational 14- to 16-year-old swimmers in Szczecin, Poland. The competitive swimmers were from local sports clubs—junior subgroup training for about 7 years and senior subgroups training for about 10 years. Both subgroups spent over 19 h in the swimming pool per week. The recreational swimmers were randomly selected from students at high schools who were swimming once or twice per week and no more than 2 h per week. All participants trained in closely monitored, gas-chlorinated swimming pool water. Erosive lesions were observed significantly more often in the competitive swimmers than the recreational swimmers (26% and 10%, respectively). All lesions were grade 1, according to the Lussi classification. In the competitive swimmers, the anterior teeth were affected on both labial and palatal surfaces, whereas in recreational swimmers only palatal surfaces were affected. The erosion on the labial surfaces occurred only in senior competitive swimmers, especially in men. The authors suggest that the development of tooth erosion may be influenced by the length of training sessions and the duration of competitive swimming.
Similarly, Rao et al. [23] investigated the prevalence of oral health symptoms (such as dentinal hypersensitivity, dental erosion, and dental caries) among competitive swimmers from two training centres in Kottayam, India, and found that 69.6% of the included swimmers manifested dentinal hypersensitivity, 48.2% dental erosion and 39.3% dental caries. Among the athletes complaining of dentin hypersensitivity, 61% had accompanying erosive defects. Dental erosion was observed more frequently on the palatal surface of the maxillary anterior teeth followed by the mandibular anterior teeth. In the study group, the incidence of erosion increased with the years of regular training at the pool. The odds of developing dental erosion in swimmers training for more than 3 years was 5.3 times higher compared to the rest. Furthermore, swimmers training for more than 2 h during a training session were more likely to be marked with erosive losses. Although almost two-thirds of them consumed acidic beverages, no correlation was found between the frequency of drinking and the presence of tooth erosion. The authors confirmed that dental erosion is an occupational risk for professional swimmers.
Another group of studies focused mainly on the potential impact of sports drink consumption accompanying the training of professional athletes. Silva et al. [24] analysed if the consumption of acidic beverages, including energy drinks, could be associated with dental erosion in Portuguese athletes. In the cross-sectional study, the included participants were divided into four groups: swimmers who consumed or did not consume energy drinks, and non-swimmers (bodybuilders, football players, boxers, volleyball players, and runners) who consumed or did not consume energy drinks. Of the participants, 70% had been regularly involved in the sport for more than 2 years. Among them, 39 subjects consumed energy drinks, one-third of them during each training session. As many as 83.6% of the athletes in the study group had at least one erosion lesion. The teeth in the second and fifth sextants were the most frequently affected by erosive defects (69.1% and 59.1%, respectively). According to the BEWE index scoring, 43.6% of athletes demonstrated no risk of erosion, 49.1% low risk, 6.4% medium risk and 0.9% high risk. The authors evaluated the risk factors to be “at least low risk” of dental erosion, while considering the non-swimmers who did not use energy drinks as the control group. In the multivariate logistic analysis, the most statistically significant factor was the consumption of energy drinks in swimmers—the odds of erosion were more than 15 times higher than in the control group and more than 2 times higher than in the non-swimmers consuming energy drinks group. The findings suggested a complex influence of swimming as a sport and the habit of consuming energisers on the development of erosive defects, requiring regular dental check-ups.
Some studies also identified and compared the incidence of tooth erosion in team sports. Needleman et al. [25] evaluated oral health in a representative group of professional football players in the UK. The cross-sectional study was performed in eight football clubs: five Premier League, two Championship, and one League One. One hundred eighty-seven footballers were recruited and represented above 90% of each senior team. Although almost three-quarters of them declared a previous dental check-up within the past 12 months, the oral health status was poor. A total of 36.9% of the players demonstrated active dental caries, 53.1% dental erosion, and 5% at least moderate periodontal disease. The most advanced erosion defects (grades 2–3 according to BEWE) were observed on the anterior teeth in about 20% of the cases, and a similar amount were on posterior teeth. Only 7.1% of the football players reported drinking sports beverages less than once a week. In contrast, 23.1% consumed isotonic drinks more than six times a week. The authors found no correlation between the sports drink consumption frequency and the occurrence or severity of dental erosion.