No abstract

No abstract

The association of bruxism with craniofacial pain and symptoms of dysfunction of the masticatory system was assessed in a sample of 483 adult subjects, aged 18±75 years and selected from the general population living in the municipality of Segrate, a metropolitan area in northern Italy. Subjects were interviewed by a questionnaire about oral conditions, occurrence of symptoms of masticatory disturbances, craniofacial and neck pain. The overall prevalence of bruxism was 31 á 4% (95% con®dence interval (CI): 27 á 3±35 á 5%). At univariate analysis bruxism was signi®cantly associated with craniofacial pain, dif®culty in closing the mouth, dif®culty in opening the mouth wide or in locking the mouth, temporomandibular joint sounds, pain on movement, a feeling of stiffness or fatigue of the jaws, and neck pain. After adjustment for reciprocal in¯uences and confounding variables, logistic regression analysis disclosed a strong independent association of bruxism with dif®culty in closing the mouth (adjusted odds ratio, (OR): 2 á 84, 95% CI: 1 á 68±4 á 48), and a weaker relationship with craniofacial pain (adjusted OR: 1 á 84, 95% CI: 1 á 16±2 á 93) and temporomandibular joint sounds (adjusted OR: 1 á 64, 95% CI: 1 á 00±2 á 69). The ®ndings show that in the general adult population there is a complex connection among bruxism, craniofacial pain and symptoms of masticatory disturbances. Furthermore, they suggest that the most direct relationship of bruxism may be with dif®culties in mouth movements, but also an independent association may exist with craniofacial pain and other symptoms of temporomandibular disorder.

The aim of this study was to describe the distribution of occlusal contacts in subjects with signs or symptoms of temporomandibular disorder (TMD), and to assess whether any difference exists with healthy subjects. Twenty-five university dental students with complete natural dentition who exhibited TMD (13 females and 12 males, age from 19 to 30 years) and 25 age- and sex-matched controls entered the study. Occlusal contacts were evaluated in the intercuspal position and wax registrations were made in all subjects. Occlusal contacts were classified according to location and intensity. No differences were found between TMD and control groups for the overall number and distribution of contacts or for any side and intensity of contact. An intra-subject analysis showed that TMD subjects had significantly greater bilateral asymmetry in the number of contacts than controls. Median absolute difference of the number of contacts on right and left sides was 3 (95% CI, 2-4) in TMD subjects and 2 (95% CI, 1-2) in controls. In TMD subjects with mono-lateral TMD there was a significant concordance (88.9%) between the side of disorder and the side of higher number of contacts. These findings, while confirming that a significant relationship exists between distribution of occlusal contacts and TMD, further suggest that in young adults it may be primarily expressed by asymmetries in occlusal contact patterns. Existence and aetiology of any association of TMD with occlusal contacts should be further investigated.