A reviewer writing in the Journal of the American Dental Association this month (Vol. 150: 11, p: 1401) slams an earlier study that concluded there is strong evidence reflux causes dental erosion.
Poor data presentation in the 2008 systematic review made it difficult to analyze the original evidence, writes Judy Fan-Hsu, D.D.S. "The lack of an analytical framework and controls prohibits any accurate assessment of the results."
The original review (Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, March 2008, Vol. 27: 12, pp: 1179-1186) by researchers at the University of Milan, the University of Pavia, the University of Wisconsin, and Marquette University concluded that, "This systematic review shows that there is a strong association between GERD [gastroesophageal reflux disease] and DE [dental erosion]."
GERD may indeed cause GERD, but the Alimentary review authors didn't show data tables, and some of the written results were incongruent with tabular data, Dr. Fan-Hsu writes.
