Decreased amount of slow wave sleep in nocturnal bruxism is not improved by dental splint therapy.

OBJECTIVE To test the efficacy of dental treatment of bruxism on sleep quality, using slow wave sleep as the primary outcome parameter. METHODS The study design consisted of an open label, unpaired comparison between normals and patients and a paired comparison between pre- and post-treatment patient recordings. Twenty patients suffering from bruxism (13 male, 7 female, mean age 35 years) and 6 normal volunteers (3 male, 3 female, mean age 30 years) participated in the study. Polysomnographic recordings were performed in a sleep laboratory in a general hospital both before and after treatment. The treatment was derived from a model that ascribes bruxism to a dental malocclusion, and consisted solely of dental therapy (Jeanmonood 1988). RESULTS The untreated bruxism group had worse sleep than normals when comparing slow wave sleep (21% versus 32% slow wave sleep percentage in sleep period time) during the second polysomnographic recording, after one night adaptation. Therapy did not improve sleep quality; bruxism patients showed only minor, non-significant differences in sleep quality when comparing pre- and post-treatment recordings.