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Oral complications in anorexia nervosa
Author(s) -
HELLSTRÖM INGRID
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
european journal of oral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.802
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1600-0722
pISSN - 0909-8836
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0722.1977.tb00535.x
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , medicine , anorexia , eating disorders , psychiatry
– Anorexia nervosa (AN), a psychosomatic disease mainly affecting young women, is characterized by conscious starvation, periods of excessive carbohydrate intake and often deliberate vomiting. Medical history, dental examination, and saliva tests of 39 pa tients aged 14 to 42 years, having suffered from AN for periods of 1 to 20 year, showed dental caries, due to excessive carbohydrate consumption, in all subjects, often in a rampant form. In patients with a history of intense vomiting (27 cases) severe lingual‐occlusal erosion (perimylolysis) was nearly always present. Buccal erosion, mainly due to high con sumption of acid fruits and drinks to relieve thirst caused by dehydration, was more frequent in vomiting than in non‐vomiting patients. Subnormal values of saliva properties, owing to dehydration or xerostomia‐inducing medication, were present in the majority of cases; the lowest values occurred in those vomiting. The association AN — vomiting — perimylolysis is discussed, as well as prophylactic and therapeutic measures. A medical, psychiatric, and dental survey of AN is presented.