Oral and dental conditions in winetasters and others in the wine trade

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the cause, presentation, prevention and management of oral and dental problems experienced by wine tasters and others in the wine trade.

Wine, an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grape juice, has been produced for thousands of years. Some of the earliest evidence of wine is from the Caucasus region in today's Georgia dating back to between 6000 and 5000 BC.¹ Wine, apart from its use for personal consumption, has, among other things, long played an important role in religion² and been considered to have both positive and negative health effects, largely depending on the amount consumed.³

Any one type of wine comprises several hundred compounds, many at very low concentrations. The major components of wine are, in general, water (86%); ethanol (12%); glycerol, polysaccharides, phenolic compounds and trace elements (1%); different types of acid (0.5%); and a variety of volatile compounds (0.5%). Many of these components have positive and negative effects on body organs, systems, cells, molecular mechanisms and commensals,⁴ including the oral microbiome.⁵ The pH of wine is largely between 3 and 4,⁶ as confirmed in a number of publications on the erosive potential of wines, for example, Rees et al.⁷