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Temporomandibular disorders in patients with polysomnographic diagnosis of sleep bruxism: a case–control study

Sleep and Breathing volume 26, pages 941–948 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is a collective term that refers to complaints of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain, fatigue and/or pain of the craniocervical muscles, limitation of movement of the mandible, and TMJ noises. Sleep bruxism (SB) is a disorder involving rhythmic (phasic) or non-rhythmic (tonic) masticatory muscle activity during sleep and is not a movement disorder or a sleep disorder in otherwise healthy individuals. The present study aimed to support or reject the null hypothesis that there is no association between SB and TMD.

Methods

The study population was recruited from patients who visited the Artmedica Clinic, Mossoro city, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Patients who underwent polysomnography received information about the research and were invited to participate following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study sample consisted of 40 individuals with age ranging from 19 to 76 years. The subjects were administered the questionnaire of the European Academy of Craniomandibular Disorders (AEDC). Those who answered affirmatively to at least one question of the questionnaire were recommended to visit the primary researcher’s dental clinic for examination; those who met the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (DC/TMD) were evaluated, and their condition was classified into one or more subtypes of TMD. The subjects were divided into 4 groups according to the polysomnographic findings and the responses to the AEDC questionnaire. Of the 40 individuals who answered the AEDC questionnaire and underwent polysomnography, 28 presented with TMD symptoms. The data were expressed as simple frequency and percentage values using statistical software. Values of p < 0.05 were considered to be significant.

Results

The results showed that the frequency of TMD in individuals diagnosed to have SB was 46.4%. According to the DC/TMD of the 28 individuals, the most prevalent TMD subtype was local myalgia (85.7%). Of the total subjects, 32.5% had TMD and SB, 36.4% were males, and in the age range of 31 to 40 years (40%).

Conclusion

In this study sample, there was no association between SB as currently defined and TMD, thus confirming previous findings on this topic.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroimmune Pain Interface Lab, Faculdade São Leopoldo Mandic, Campinas, Brazil

    Andrea Sinclair, Antônio Sérgio Guimarães & Miguel Meira e Cruz

  2. Department of Experimental Dentistry, Wroclaw Medical University, 26 Krakowska St, 50-425, Wroclaw, Poland

    Mieszko Wieckiewicz

  3. Center of Dental Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Dominik Ettlin

  4. Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

    Raimundo Junior

  5. Sleep Unit, Centro Cardiovascular da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon School of Medicine, Lisbon, Portugal

    Michele Gomes & Miguel Meira e Cruz

  6. International Center of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Bahiana School of Medicine and Public Health, Salvador, Brazil

    Miguel Meira e Cruz

Authors
  1. Andrea Sinclair
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  2. Mieszko Wieckiewicz
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  3. Dominik Ettlin
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  4. Raimundo Junior
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  5. Antônio Sérgio Guimarães
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  6. Michele Gomes
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  7. Miguel Meira e Cruz
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Contributions

A.S.: Data acquisition and drafting of manuscript. M.W.: Critical revision and drafting of the manuscript. D.E.: Critical revision and drafting of the manuscript. R.J.: Data acquisition. A.S.G.: Study concept. M.G.: Drafting of the manuscript. M.M.e C.: Study concept and design, drafting of the manuscript, statistical analysis, and critical revision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miguel Meira e Cruz.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. 2.913.404 and CAAE 92220718.4.000.5374.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Comments:

There persists mystery in clinical practice about sleep bruxism, accompanied by adherence to myth. This small study provides important distance between two common disorders.

Steve Carstensen

USA

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Sinclair, A., Wieckiewicz, M., Ettlin, D. et al. Temporomandibular disorders in patients with polysomnographic diagnosis of sleep bruxism: a case–control study. Sleep Breath 26, 941–948 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02449-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-021-02449-2

Keywords

  • Temporomandibular disorders
  • Sleep bruxism
  • Polysomnography