Correlation between a Force-Sensing Oral Appliance and Electromyography in the Detection of Tooth Contact Bruxism Events

Abstract

Background: Oral appliances embedding sensors can be interesting tools for monitoring tooth contact bruxism in a home environment, as they address some of the usability limitations of portable electromyography (EMG) systems. In this study, an oral appliance for sleep bruxism monitoring was compared to an electromyograph. Methods: Simulated bruxism events with tooth contact, specifically clenching and grinding, and other occlusal activities unrelated to bruxism, were measured in 23 subjects with the two instruments simultaneously. The recordings were analyzed automatically by a computer program in order to compare the two techniques. Results: The two instruments were found to be strongly correlated in terms of detecting events (r = 0.89), and estimating their duration (r = 0.88) and their intensity (r = 0.83). Conclusions: The two techniques were in agreement in measuring event frequency, duration and intensity in the studied group, suggesting that force-sensing oral appliances have the potential to be easy-to-use tools for home monitoring of bruxism, alone or as complements to portable EMGs.

Research routes on awake bruxism metrics: Implications of the updated bruxism definition and evaluation strategies

“…In the field of bruxism, TMDs and orofacial pain, an important step will also be the acceptance of digitalization processes in data gathering and analysis, to facilitate machine learning strategies based on large scale epidemiological information. Within these premises, “measured” bruxism still remains the ideal target for comparison with other approaches and for the identification of bruxism status proxies as well as to test other technologies 134–137 . Deeper probing into this area will allow for an increase in knowledge on several aspects of AB, even including the clinical validity of subject‐based information and the association with consequences.…”

“…Within these premises, "measured" bruxism still remains the ideal target for comparison with other approaches and for the identification of bruxism status proxies as well as to test other technologies. [134][135][136][137] Deeper probing into this area will allow for an increase in knowledge on several as- case series) as well as at the population level (e.g., cross-sectional and longitudinal large-sample studies). Data will be used to standardise future reports for comparison purposes.…”