Non-carious cervical lesions on permanent anterior teeth: a new morphological classification.

BACKGROUND

Various cross-sectional forms of non-carious cervical lesions have been described but no formal morphological classification system has been developed. The aims of this study were to describe the spectrum of common morphological forms of non-carious cervical lesions observed within a large sample of extracted human permanent anterior teeth and to develop a system for classification based on morphological features.

METHODS

Over 15,000 extracted permanent anterior teeth were examined macroscopically under illumination at 2x magnification. Well-defined, descriptive categories were formed, based on observable non-carious cervical lesion features and using terminology currently reported in the literature. The lesions were then sorted into these categories.

RESULTS

Five hundred and forty-two non-carious cervical lesions were identified on 15 289 teeth extracted in the early to mid 20th century, representing a frequency of 3.5%. The main categories developed were "shallow", "concave", "wedge-shaped", "notched", and "irregular".

CONCLUSIONS

The new morphological classification system provides an alternative to presently used systems based on aetiology, and should facilitate future research on non-carious cervical lesions.