Associations between signs of sleep bruxism and insomnia: A polysomnographic study

Boyuan Kuang*, Ghizlane Aarab, Yishul Wei, Tessa F. Blanken, Frank Lobbezoo, Eus J.W. van Someren, Jennifer R. Ramautar, Rick Wassing

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Sleep bruxism (SB) is a repetitive jaw-muscle activity characterised by clenching or grinding of the teeth and/or by bracing or thrusting of the mandible. Sleep bruxism has been linked with insomnia symptoms. Moreover, it has been suggested that there is a positive association between distress and the occurrence of sleep bruxism. However, the occurrence of sleep bruxism and its association with distress have not been studied in patients with insomnia. Therefore, we hypothesised that: (1) the occurrence of sleep bruxism is higher in patients with insomnia than in healthy controls; and (2) the occurrence of sleep bruxism in insomnia patients with moderate to high distress (IMHD) is higher than that in insomnia patients with slight distress (ISD). A total of 44 controls (34 females, 10 males, mean ± SD age = 46.8 ± 14.4 years) and 42 participants with insomnia (35 females, 7 males, mean ± SD age = 51.3 ± 12.1 years) were enrolled in this study. Among 42 participants with insomnia, 20 participants were subtyped as IMHD, 17 participants as ISD. Another five participants were not subtyped due to insufficient information. Group differences in rhythmic masticatory muscle activity (RMMA), a biomarker of sleep bruxism, were evaluated with Mann–Whitney U tests. The medians and interquartile ranges of the RMMA indices were 0.8|1.8|3.3 in controls, 1.1|1.6|2.3 in IMHD and 1.2|1.9|2.9 in ISD. There was no significant difference in the RMMA index, neither between participants with insomnia and controls (P = 0.514) nor between IMHD versus ISD (P = 0.270). The occurrence of RMMA indicators of possible sleep bruxism is not significantly different between individuals with insomnia and controls, nor between IMHD versus ISD.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere13827
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Sleep Research
Volume32
Issue number4
Early online date26 Jan 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Boyuan Kuang reports grants from China Scholarship Council, during the conduct of the study (file number: 201807720034). Eus J.W. Van Someren's involvement in studies on arousal is supported by funding from the European Research Council ERC‐ADG‐2021‐101055383‐OVERNIGHT. Rick Wassing is supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (Investigator Grant GNT1196636).

Funding Information:
Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, Grant/Award Number: GNT1196636; China Scholarship Council, Grant/Award Number: 201807720034; H2020 European Research Council, Grant/Award Number: ERC‐ADG‐2021‐101055383‐OVERNIGHT Funding information

Funding Information:
Frank Lobbezoo receives research grants from SomnoMed, Sunstar Suisse, S.A., Vivisol‐Resmed, Health Holland, and the Dutch Research Council (NWO), unrelated to this paper. Frank Lobbezoo is an unsalaried member of the Academic Advisory Board of Sunstar Suisse S.A. for GrindCare.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.

Funding

Boyuan Kuang reports grants from China Scholarship Council, during the conduct of the study (file number: 201807720034). Eus J.W. Van Someren's involvement in studies on arousal is supported by funding from the European Research Council ERC-ADG-2021-101055383-OVERNIGHT. Rick Wassing is supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (Investigator Grant GNT1196636). Boyuan Kuang reports grants from China Scholarship Council, during the conduct of the study (file number: 201807720034). Eus J.W. Van Someren's involvement in studies on arousal is supported by funding from the European Research Council ERC‐ADG‐2021‐101055383‐OVERNIGHT. Rick Wassing is supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (Investigator Grant GNT1196636). Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, Grant/Award Number: GNT1196636; China Scholarship Council, Grant/Award Number: 201807720034; H2020 European Research Council, Grant/Award Number: ERC‐ADG‐2021‐101055383‐OVERNIGHT Funding information Frank Lobbezoo receives research grants from SomnoMed, Sunstar Suisse, S.A., Vivisol‐Resmed, Health Holland, and the Dutch Research Council (NWO), unrelated to this paper. Frank Lobbezoo is an unsalaried member of the Academic Advisory Board of Sunstar Suisse S.A. for GrindCare.

FundersFunder number
European Research Council ERC‐ADG‐2021‐101055383‐OVERNIGHT
H2020 European Research Council
Health~Holland
European Research CouncilERC-ADG-2021-101055383-OVERNIGHT
National Health and Medical Research CouncilGNT1196636
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
China Scholarship Council201807720034

    Keywords

    • distress
    • insomnia
    • RMMA
    • sleep arousal
    • sleep bruxism

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