Self-reported Bruxism - associations with perceived stress, motivation for control, dental anxiety and gagging*

Abstract

To examine possible associations between self-reported bruxism, stress, desirability of control, dental anxiety and gagging. Five questionnaires were distributed among a general adult population (402 respondents): the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Desirability of Control Scale (DC), Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS), Gagging Assessment Scale (GAS), and Bruxism Assessment Questionnaire. A high positive correlation between DAS and GAS (R = 0·604, P < 0·001) was found. PSS was negatively correlated with DC (R = -0·292, P < 0·001), and was positively correlated with GAS (R = 0·217, P < 0·001) and DAS (R = 0·214, P < 0·001). Respondents who reported bruxing while awake or asleep showed higher levels of GAS, DAS and PSS than those who did not. There were no differences between the bruxers and the non-bruxers (sleep and aware) with regard to the DC scores. The best predictors of awake bruxism were sleep bruxism (OR = 4·98, CI 95% 2·54-9·74) and GAS (OR = 1·10, CI 95% 1·04-1·17). The best predictors of sleep bruxism were awake bruxism (OR = 5·0, CI 95% 2·56-9·78) and GAS (OR = 1·19; CI 95% 1·11-1·27). Self-reported sleep bruxism significantly increases the odds for awake bruxism and vice versa. Tendency for gagging during dental care slightly increases the odds of both types of self-reported bruxism, but desirability of control is not associated with these phenomena.

Prevalence and potential factors associated with probable sleep or awake bruxism and dentin hypersensitivity in undergraduate students

“…These results were lower than those measured in our study but showed that awake bruxism was more prevalent than sleep bruxism. However, unlike the present study, the previous authors used only self-reports (without clinical examination) based on the memories of individuals and excluded subjects who were not aware of their bruxism; polysomnography and electromyography are the required exams for the gold standard of a final diagnosis of bruxism, but using these tests for large sample sets is expensive 10,16 . Because of this limitation, these tests were not used.…”

“…A literature review concluded that the prevalence of awake bruxism in the adult population was 20%, while that of sleep bruxism was 8% 10 . Another study determined the prevalence of adults with sleep bruxism to be 14% and those with awake bruxism to be 31% 16 . These results were lower than those measured in our study but showed that awake bruxism was more prevalent than sleep bruxism.…”

Parafunctional habits are associated cumulatively to painful temporomandibular disorders in adolescents

“…11 Awake bruxism is the habit of clenching the teeth during wakefulness, and probably has a different cause and pathophysiology from sleep bruxism. 12 Despite this conceptual difference, it has been observed that their concomitant presence is frequent and that sleep bruxism significantly increases the odds for awake bruxism and vice-versa. 7 On the other hand, activities named as parafunctional habits are those that exceed the individual's physiologic tolerance, leading to the breakdown of the masticatory system.…”

A Reliable and Valid Survey to Predict a Patient’s Gagging Intensity

“…The Gagging Assessment Scale (GAS) asks the patient how they feel in four situations, ranging from personal dental care (brushing ones teeth) to undergoing dental treatment in the back of the mouth [10]. The GAS asks the patients to score how nauseated they would feel in each situation on a scale from 1 (no nausea whatsoever), to 5 (experiencing actual throat spasms and occasionally throwing up).…”