Dental practitioner approaches to bruxism: Preliminary findings from the national dental practice-based research network

ABSTRACT

Objective

Bruxism is a repetitive masticatory muscle activity. This study investigates dental practitioners’ approaches to bruxism assessment and treatment in practices.

Methods

A brief 5 question questionnaire (“Quick Poll”) on bruxism was conducted.

Results

A total of 397 practitioners responded. More than half (55%) initiated treatment for bruxism on one to three patients per month. The majority believed that stress (97%) and sleep patterns (82%) affected bruxism in their patients. Interestingly, 96% offered an occlusal guard/appliance and 46% made occlusal adjustments.

Conclusion

This study highlights inconsistencies in practitioner approaches to bruxism assessment and management in clinical settings, suggesting gaps in practitioner knowledge evidenced by the varied responses.

Abbreviations

PBRN - Practice-Based Research Network

MMA - Masticatory muscle activity

SB - Sleep bruxism

AB - Awake bruxism

TMJ - Temporomandibular joint

OSA - Obstructive sleep apnea

KEYWORDS:

• Bruxism
• Approaches
• Behavior
• Sleep
• Treatment

Acknowledgments

Funding information: This work was supported by NIH grant U19-DE-28717. Opinions and assertions contained herein are those of the authors. They are not to be construed as necessarily representing the views of the respective organizations or the National Institutes of Health. An Internet site devoted to details about the nation’s Network is located at http://NationalDentalPBRN.org. Finally, the authors gratefully acknowledge all the Network practitioners who responded to the Quick Poll, of which the results were used in this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

All listed authors contributed to the conception of this project. RM, FL, EF, MT, CT, and HB drafted the manuscript. All authors critically revised the manuscript and approved the final version. They are all responsible for all aspects of the work.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at nationaldentalpbrn.org https://www.nationaldentalpbrn.org/quick-polls/#1589403334995-1126ee8a-b791.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research [U19-DE-28717]