The effect of sleep hygiene and physiotherapy on bruxism, sleep, and oral habits in children with sleep bruxism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Sleep bruxism has been associated with temporomandibular dysfunction, pain, fatigue, and poor sleep quality. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the gender and age distribution of sleep and oral habits of children with sleep bruxism and to examine the effect of a sleep hygiene and physiotherapy program. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 82 children aged 6-13 years with sleep bruxism were initially screened between March 2020 and June 2021, from which 37 of them voluntarily attended an 8-week sleep hygiene and physiotherapy program. Evaluations were made using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ), and the Oral Habits Questionnaire (OHQ) at the beginning and at the end of the 8-week program. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were determined between the 6-9 years and 10-13-year age groups in respect of the sleep habits subcategories of resistance to bedtime (p= 0.001), sleep anxiety (p= 0.043), parasomnia (p= 0.040), and sleep respiratory disorder (p= 0.041). Following the 8-week treatment program, a significant reduction was obtained in the VAS value (p< 0.05), CSHQ subcategories of resistance to bedtime (p= 0.001), sleep duration (p= 0.008), parasomnia (p= 0.000), and in the OHQ score (p= 0.000). CONCLUSION: There was no relationship between sleep bruxism and gender, but a relationship was found with age. The rate of bruxism was seen to decrease with an increase in age. It was determined that oral, sleep habits, and bruxism are closely related, and the rates at which bruxism is seen are affected by the oral habits. Sleep hygiene and physiotherapy have been effective in children with sleep bruxism.

Effectiveness of manual therapy and home physical therapy in patients with temporomandibular disorders: A randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this study was to compare the short-term effectiveness of home physical therapy (HPT) alone with that of manual therapy (MT) in conjunction with home physical therapy (MT-HPT) performed for four weeks in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Forty subjects (nine males and 31 females; age, 18-72 years) with TMD were randomly divided into two groups: HPT (n = 20; five males and 15 females; mean age, 34.8 ± 12.4 years) and MT-HPT (n = 20; four males and 16 females; mean age, 37.0 ± 14.6 years). Pain intensity was evaluated at rest and with stress using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Pain-free maximum mouth opening (MMO) was also evaluated. Mean change score (MCS) in VAS and the smallest detectable difference (SDD) in pain-free MMO were measured over time. The results were analysed by MANOVA to evaluate the effects of treatment over time. At baseline, the groups did not differ from each other with respect to VAS scores and pain-free MMO (p > 0.05). Within each group, VAS with stress decreased (p < 0.001) and pain-free MMO increased (p < 0.001) over time. Between groups, both time*treatment effect and treatment effect were significant for VAS with stress (p < 0.001); however, only time*treatment effect was significant for pain-free MMO (p = 0.009). In the MT-HPT group, MCS for VAS with stress was 91.3% and SDD for pain-free MMO was 10 mm. Our results suggest that a four-week period of MT-HPT has a clinically significant effect on both pain and pain-free maximum mouth opening in patients with TMD.