There is no standard treatment for damages caused by erosive tooth wear, and choice of treatment strategy should be determined on individual basis with emphasis on the minimal invasive intervention.

Interest in dental erosive wear is increasing, and new recommendations of less invasive approaches to the treatment of the condition are emphasized. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to identify dentists’ knowledge, beliefs, and clinical behaviour toward the condition. The present study is the first of its nature to analyze and permit comparison of the knowledge and treatment decisions of dental erosive wear between different countries, as it is conducted in a similar manner as the recent questionnaire study from Norway. The importance of making such intercountry assessments is high.

Human experiments on dental erosion are unethical because of the irreversible loss of dental hard tissues when exposed to acids. Therefore, studies using animal models are of high importance since they represent clinical situations. Based on the present results it can beconcluded that cola drink (phosphoric acid, pH=2.27) exhibited higher erosive effect on mouse mandibular molars compared to sports drink (citric acid, pH=3.39). This new animal model of extrinsic dental erosion where lesions of different severity can be created is suitable for further studies that will improve our understanding of the disease. The present method with transversely ground molars observed in SEM allows a registration of erosive lesions and lesion depths in small teeth like mouse molars. Both studies on the salivary influence (e.g. by using knockout mice) and the studies on the effect of fluoride on development of erosive lesions are warranted.