Toothbrushing Habits and Cervical Abrasion in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT Introduction: As the potential benefits of toothbrushing to oral health are so huge, that the adverse effects or damage caused by toothbrushing can be rated as rather small. An understanding of the multifactorial nature of tooth wear and its risk factors is important in the patient’s diagnostic protocol and management strategy. Methods: A cross-sectional study design for a duration of 6 months involved 200 subjects. A validated questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding their oral hygiene measures. Smith and Knight tooth wear index was used to score the severity of abrasive lesions. Results: Duration of brushing was found to be significantly associated with a total number of teeth ( P = 0.021) and with enamel abrasion ( P = 0.04). Conclusion: In the present study, the duration of toothbrushing was found to be significantly associated with cervical abrasion (CA). Even though the horizontal method of toothbrushing, which was considered to be one of the main causes for CA, it was not found to significantly differ from other methods.