Alcohol and Oral Health

According to the World Health Organization, there are almost two billion people worldwide who consume alcohol, which is the most common drug of abuse, and almost 80 million with diagnosable alcohol abuse disorders (WHO 2002, 2004). Excessive alcohol consumption is causally related to more than 60 different medical conditions, some of them, such as suicide, homicide and different forms of accidents, are acute, while other conditions, such as liver cirrhosis, chronic pancreatitis, haemorrhagic stroke and various forms of cancer, are chronic consequences of alcohol use (40, 41). Dental erosion is also associated with frequent alcohol consumption, because of precipitation of salivary proline-rich proteins caused by polyphenols present in most alcoholic drinks, the high concentration of organic and inorganic acids and the habit of keeping the alcoholic drink in the mouth.