Psychic and occlusal factors in bruxers

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the existence of associations between bruxism and psychic and occlusal. Methods: Participants in this study (n=85) were recruited from the Section of Odontostomology, Department of Neuroscience, University of Pisa, Italy. They were split into two groups, bruxers (n=34) and non-bruxers (n=51), on the basis of the presence of both clinical and anamnestical indicators of bruxism. All participants were administered two self-reported validated questionnaires to evaluate mood (MOOD-SR) spectra. A number of occlusal variables (deep-bite, cross-bite, open-bite, mediotrusive and laterotrusive interferences, slide RCP-ICP, laterotrusive guides, canine and molar classes) were also recorded. Results: With regards to occlusal factors, the only association was revealed between bruxism mediotrusive interferences (p<0.05). As for psychiatric investigation, significant differences between bruxers and controls emerged for the presence of both depressive (p<0.01) and manic symptoms (p<0.01) in MOOD-SR, and for stress sensitivity (p<0.01), anxious expectation (p<0.05), and reassurance sensitivity symptoms (p<0.05) in PAR-SR. In particular, both mood (p<0.01) and panic-agroraphobic (p<0.05) spectra symptoms seem to differentiate bruxers from controls in males, while in female strong differences emerged from stress sensitivity symptoms (p<0.05). Conclusions: It can be confirmed that certain psychic traits are present in bruxers, while occlusal factors are not useful parameters to discern bruxers from non-bruxers.