Bruxism prevalence in a selective Lebanese population

ABSTRACT

Statement of the problem: In recent years, many Lebanese dentists reported an increase in night-time parafunctional activity of their patients. Purpose of the study To investigate night bruxism awareness in a selective Lebanese population. Materials and 868 visitors of a shopping mall in the city of Beirut [Lebanon] were interviewed about their habit of clenching and grinding their teeth at night, and about their age and gender. Gender distribution was as follows 530 females and 338 males, mean age was 34.9 [ +/- 11.6 SD] and 37.8 [ +/- 14.6 SD] respectively. Overall prevalence of bruxism was 35.8% for males and 32.6% for females with no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Bruxism was found to increase with age for both genders. Bruxism awareness per age and gender was as follows <26 years [F 24.1%; M 19.4%], 26-35 years [F 26.1%; M 27.2%],36-45 years [F 41.1%; M 41.6%], 46-55 years [F 41.5%; M 50%] and> 55 years [F 63.6%; M 53.5%]. Night bruxism prevalence in this Lebanese group seems to be higher than in reported western studies and a deeper socio-economical investigation is needed. Future larger scale studies might be needed to confirm if bruxism awareness increases with age