abfraction

English

Etymology

From ab- +‎ fraction (“act of breaking”); from 1991.

Noun

abfraction (countable and uncountable, plural abfractions)

1. (dentistry) A proposed mechanism for noncarious tooth tissue loss, owing not to decay but rather to biomechanical stresses of biting and chewing; the pathogenesis of such damage remains a subject of continuing study.
   • 1991, Grippo JO, “Abfractions: a new classification of hard tissue lesions of teeth”, in Journal of Esthetic Dentistry, volume 3, number 1, →DOI, →PMID, pages 14–19:

     Due to the stresses resulting from biomechanical loading forces exerted on the teeth (static, as in swallowing and clenching[,] or cyclic, as in chewing), both enamel and dentin can chip or break away. This loss of tooth substance, which shall be termed Abfraction, is dependent on the magnitude, duration, direction, frequency, and location of the forces. These abfractive lesions are caused by flexure and ultimate material fatigue of susceptible teeth at locations away from the point of loading. Clinical observation of a variety of enamel and dentin lesions due to the shapes, sizes, loci, and frequency warrants a new and distinct classification.

2. An instance of tooth tissue loss via this mechanism.

Related terms

• abfracted (evidently back-formed)