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The purpose of this study was to attempt to correlate possible etiologic factors with the occurrence of occlusal tooth wear in a young Saudi population. The material comprised 90 individuals with a mean age of 22 years within a range of 19-25 years. A dentition wear index, in addition to anterior and posterior wear subindices were derived from tooth-by-tooth evaluations of casts. Factors found to correlate significantly with increased occlusal wear were bruxism, biting habits such as pen- and nail-biting, use of an indigenous chewing-stick called miswak, and high intake of fruit juices. There was no correlation between subjects from differing geographic and/or climatic habitats and the severity of tooth wear. The common element of a harsh desert terrain may constitute the dominant passive abrasive etiologic factor in the present sample.