Self-reported mandible bracing and teeth clenching are associated with anxiety and depression traits in a group of healthy young individuals

To assess the correlation between awake bruxism (AB) behaviors and psychological status in a group of healthy young adults. Participants were recruited at the University of Siena, Siena, Italy, by advertising the initiative. The reported frequency of AB behaviors was evaluated through the Oral Behavior Checklist (OBC). The 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) was adopted to evaluate the participants’ psychological status. Student’s t-test was used to detect differences between genders. The Pearson correlation test was performed to assess the correlation between the two questionnaires. Mandible bracing showed the strongest correlation with anxiety and depression traits (r = 0.62), followed by teeth clenching (r = 0.54). Teeth contact (r = 0.33) and teeth grinding (r = 0.32) had the lowest level of correlation. In a sample of healthy young individuals, there is a moderate-to-high correlation between the reported teeth clenching and mandible bracing frequency and the degree of anxiety and depression symptoms. Such findings suggest the importance of the psychological assessment in awake bruxers.