Nocturnal bruxing events in healthy geriatric subjects.

Thirty healthy geriatric subjects were studied during a single night of sleep in a sleep laboratory. Unilateral masseter muscle activity was recorded in addition to the standard polysomnographic study. The geriatric subjects in this study exhibited fewer bruxing events than other subjects reported in the literature. Certain conditions that have not been previously investigated, such as sleep position, type of bruxing event, and relationship to the state of the dentition, are reported.