Prevention and control of dental erosion: Professional clinic care

There are basic principles that should be followed for the prevention and control of dental erosion. They rely on diminishing or eliminating the acid challenge, overcoming any hypersensitivity, healing the remaining damaged tooth surface by remineralization and protecting the tooth from any subsequent acid attack. Opinions vary as to how this should be achieved and the plethora of products that are available, each with their specific formulations and different concentrations, often causes confusion among clinicians. Although examples of specific products will be mentioned in this chapter, the emphasis will be on general methods with reference to generic products in order to guide management. Although this chapter focuses only on professionally applied products and oral health education, they should only form part of an overall preventive program that includes home preventive measures for which the patient is responsible. Each management plan needs to follow a preventive philosophy that is tailor-made for the patient.