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Weak association between sleep bruxism and obstructive sleep apnea. A sleep laboratory study

  • Sleep Breathing Physiology and Disorders • Original Article
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Abstract

Purpose

No definitive associations or causal relationships have been determined between obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea (OSAH) and sleep bruxism (SB). The purpose of this study was to investigate, in a population reporting awareness of both OSAH and SB, the associations between each specific breathing and jaw muscle event.

Methods

Polysomnography and audio–video data of 59 patients reporting concomitant OSAH and SB history were analyzed. Masseteric bursts after sleep onset were scored and classified into three categories: (1) sleep rhythmic masticatory muscle activity with SB (RMMA/SB), (2) sleep oromotor activity other than RMMA/SB (Sleep-OMA), and (3) wake oromotor activity after sleep onset (Wake-OMA).

Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient analyses were performed. Dependent variables were the number of RMMA/SB episodes, RMMA/SB bursts, Sleep-OMA, and Wake-OMA; independent variables were apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), arousal index(AI), body mass index(BMI), gender, and age.

Results

Although all subjects had a history of both SB and OSAH, sleep laboratory results confirmed that these conditions were concomitant in only 50.8 % of subjects. Moderate correlations were found in the following combinations (p < 0.05); RMMA/SB episode with AI, RMMA/SB burst with AI and age, Sleep-OMA burst with AHI, and Wake-OMA burst with BMI.

Conclusions

The results suggest that (1) sleep arousals in patients with concomitant SB and OSAH are not strongly associated with onset of RMMA/SB and (2) apnea-hypopnea events appear to be related to higher occurrence of other types of sleep oromotor activity, and not SB activity. SB genesis and OSAH activity during sleep are probably influenced by different mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Natsue Maruyama, Mari Niimi, and Miku Matsumura for their invaluable cooperation, and Margaret McKyes for linguistic revision. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (No. 24390427). GL is a Canada Research Chair in Pain, Sleep, and Trauma.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Crown and Bridge Prosthodontics, Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita 13 Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8586, Japan

    Miku Saito & Taihiko Yamaguchi

  2. Department of Temporomandibular Disorders, Center for Advanced Oral Medicine, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan

    Saki Mikami, Kazuhiko Watanabe, Akihito Gotouda & Kazuki Okada

  3. Department of Dental Radiology, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan

    Ryuki Hishikawa

  4. Erumunomori Medical Clinic, Sapporo, Japan

    Eiji Shibuya & Yoshie Shibuya

  5. Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Gilles Lavigne

Authors
  1. Miku Saito
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  2. Taihiko Yamaguchi
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  3. Saki Mikami
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  4. Kazuhiko Watanabe
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  5. Akihito Gotouda
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  6. Kazuki Okada
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  7. Ryuki Hishikawa
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  8. Eiji Shibuya
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  9. Yoshie Shibuya
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  10. Gilles Lavigne
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Taihiko Yamaguchi.

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Conflicts of interest

All authors certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements) or nonfinancial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge, or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

GL holds governmental grant on pain, sleep, and trauma plus free access to oral appliances for research purposes (Narval, Somnomed), and this is not in conflict with the present paper content.

Author contributorship

All authors made substantial contributions to this study.

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Saito, M., Yamaguchi, T., Mikami, S. et al. Weak association between sleep bruxism and obstructive sleep apnea. A sleep laboratory study. Sleep Breath 20, 703–709 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-015-1284-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-015-1284-x

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