Alcopop Induced Erosion: Management in General Dental Practice

From Volume 35, Issue 5, June 2008 | Pages 326-330

Authors

Mike Lloyd Hughes

BDS, MFDS RCS(Eng), GDP

Anglesey, North Wales

Articles by Mike Lloyd Hughes

Jeremy S Rees

BDS, MScD, FDS RCS(Ed), PhD

Division of Adult Dental Health, Cardiff University Dental School, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XY, UK

Articles by Jeremy S Rees

Abstract

Alcopops, which are fruit flavoured alcoholic drinks, have been implicated as an aetiological factor in dental erosion. They are commonly drunk by 18–25 year-olds owing to their fruity flavours, but increasingly in the UK they are consumed by underage teenagers. A popular lemon-based vodka alcopop is presented as a possible causative factor of dental erosion in a 19-year-old female, who started drinking it regularly at the age of 15 for four years. She was subsequently treated preventively and conservatively in a National Health Service (NHS) dental practice, in North Wales, using freehand compomer and minimally prepared porcelain veneers.

Article