Review article. Are bruxism and the bite causally related?

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

There is an increasing 'acceptance of a multicausal, non-occlusion-oriented aetiology of bruxism.'

Main

Lobbezoo F, Ahlberg J et al. J Oral Rehabil 2012; 39: 489–501

The argument that 'bruxing patterns can be set up in an effort to rid the teeth of (...) so-called 'high spots' so that the muscle can go back to a rest position...' is refuted. Notwithstanding this, the authors cite the classic study carried out on non-human primates that induced bruxism after creating occlusal discrepancies. Yet when other investigators carried out similar studies with humans, it was found that the introduction of such artificial occlusal interferences reduced sleep-related bruxism. Provocatively, the authors argue the link between the occlusion and bruxism is perpetuated by dentists in that only they can modify the occlusion. In addition, patients are comfortable with this arrangement as bruxism and its damaging effects, are out of their control. The authors conclude 'there is no evidence whatsoever for a causal relationship between bruxism and the bite.'