Objectives: The aims were to analyze whether the levels of self-reported bruxism and anxiety associate among otherwise healthy subjects, and to investigate the independent effects of anxiety and stress experience on the probability of self-reported bruxism. Study Design: As part of a study on irregular shift work, a questionnaire was mailed to all employees of the Finnish Broadcasting Company with irregular shift work (number of subjects: n=750) and to an equal number of randomly selected employees in the same company with regular eight-hour daytime work. Results: The response rates were 82.3% (56.6 % men) and 34.3 % (46.7 % men), respectively. Among the 874 respondents, those aware of more frequent bruxism reported significantly more severe anxiety (p<0.001). Adjusted by age and gender, frequent bruxers were more than two times more likely to report severe stress (odds ratio 2.5; 95% confidence interval 1.5-4.2) and anxiety (odds ratio 2.2; 95% confidence interval 1.3-3.6) than non-or-mild bruxers. Conclusions: Present findings suggest that self-reported bruxism and psychological states such as anxiety or stress may be related in working age subjects. Key words:Bruxism, self-report, anxiety, stress, adult.

How bruxism develops from adolescence to early adulthood remains unclear. A previous database was revisited to evaluate the natural course of self-reported tooth grinding and clenching among young Finns aged 14-23 using four assessments. Overall, the self-reported frequencies of both grinding and clenching increased during the examination period: from 13.7% to 21.7% and from 9.2% to 14.8%, respectively. There were significant increases (without a statistically significant difference between genders) in both grinding (P = 0.002) and clenching (P = 0.015) between 15 and 23 years. A significant rise in grinding between 18 and 23 years was also found (P = 0.011). It is concluded that self-reported bruxism increases from adolescence to young adulthood. Moreover, there are large differences between individuals, and fluctuations may occur in the natural course of bruxism.

The present study comprised 101 (48 men) employees of the Finnish Broadcasting Company with or without irregular shift work, but all with a work week of five shifts in a row followed by 2 days off. The mean age of the subjects was 41.0 years (SD = 9.9). The BiteStrip, a single-use disposable EMG device was used for one night during the work week to detect sleep bruxism. The Actiwatch Plus actigraph was worn on the non-dominant wrist for the entire week to evaluate sleep. Total sleep time and fragmentation index, the latter as a measure of sleep efficiency was calculated for the present study. The BiteStrip scores among the participants were: 0- no bruxism: 52.2% (according to the manufacturer, comparable to a sleep laboratory bruxism count of up to 39 over 5 h), 1- mild: 29.3% (40-74 counts), 2- moderate: 12.0%: (75-124 counts) and 3- severe: 6.5% (>125 counts). Severe bruxers slept less during the work week than non-bruxers (P = 0.009), but severe bruxers slept slightly more than non-bruxers during days off. The group means of the sleep fragmentation index decreased from start towards the middle of the work week and increased during days off (P = 0.016). The levels of the fragmentation indices were consistently higher in accordance with bruxism severity (P = 0.013). It was concluded that bruxism has a coherent relationship with sleep efficiency and it can be detected at home with a low cost device.

BackgroundThe aims were to investigate the prevalence of perceived sleep quality and insufficient sleep complaints, and to analyze whether self-reported bruxism was associated with perceptions of sleep, and awake consequences of disturbed sleep, while controlling confounding factors relative to poor sleep.MethodsA standardized questionnaire was mailed to all employees of the Finnish Broadcasting Company with irregular shift work (n = 750) and to an equal number of randomly selected controls in the same company with regular eight-hour daytime work.ResultsThe response rate in the irregular shift work group was 82.3% (56.6% men) and in the regular daytime work group 34.3% (46.7% men). Self-reported bruxism occurred frequently (often or continually) in 10.6% of all subjects. Altogether 16.8% reported difficulties initiating sleep (DIS), 43.6% disrupted sleep (DS), and 10.3% early morning awakenings (EMA). The corresponding figures for non-restorative sleep (NRS), tiredness, and sleep deprivation (SLD) were 36.2%, 26.1%, and 23.7%, respectively. According to logistic regression, female gender was a significant independent factor for all insomnia symptoms, and older age for DS and EMA. Frequent bruxism was significantly associated with DIS (p = 0.019) and DS (p = 0.021). Dissatisfaction with current work shift schedule and frequent bruxism were both significant independent factors for all variables describing insufficient sleep consequences.ConclusionSelf-reported bruxism may indicate sleep problems and their adherent awake consequences in non-patient populations.