Introduction:

Dental erosion is the pathological, chronic, localized and painless loss of hard dental tissues, produced by the chemical action of acids, where the action of microorganisms is not involved. In recent years, a significant increase in the prevalence of this pathology has been observed, especially in children and adolescents. The objective was to establish the relationship between flow, pH and buffer capacity of stimulated saliva with the development of dental erosion in a sample of 400 Valencian children aged between 6 and 14 years.

Material and methods:

A cross-sectional study was carried out. A clinical examination was used to determine the presence or absence of erosion in each patient, as well as the severity of erosion, if detected. In addition, stimulated saliva flow, buffer capacity and salivary pH were determined.

Results:

The prevalence of dental erosion in the studied sample was 22.3%. It was observed that the patients with a moderately acid pH had a higher BEWE index (p <0.001). Furthermore, the lower the salivary buffer capacity was, the lower the severity of the erosive lesions present (p <0.001) in the patients. A positive relationship between salivary flow and BEWE index could not be established.

Discussion:

A low buffer capacity, as well as a moderately salivary acid pH seem to be factors positively associated with the development of erosive lesions.

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