Allergic rhinitis and bruxism in children – association andoccurrence

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The study assessed the occurrence ofallergic rhinitis and bruxism, and the associationbetween these variables from a sample of childrenranging from 1 to 12 years of age in thecity of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. Study design:This was a retrospective study and data wereanalyzed from 465 records belonging to the PediatricDentistry Clinic at the Federal Universityof Santa Maria from January 1997 to December2008. In a questionnaire applied to the children’sparents, questions about bruxism and allergicrhinitis occurrence were included. The chi-squaretest was used to assess data. Girls made up 51%of the sample and boys 49%. Results: The resultsshowed a 53.1% allergic rhinitis occurrenceand a 23.9% bruxism occurrence. Of the childrenshowing bruxism, 63% also showed allergicrhinitis. Conclusion: Therefore, the associationbetween bruxism and allergic rhinitis was significant.It was concluded that bruxism-bearing childrenare likely to develop allergic rhinitis.