Bruxism and Severity of Tooth Wear in Military Policemen

Objective: Tooth wear is attracting interest of patients and professionals and bruxism has been considered as the most important factor for its etiology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of bruxism and its association with tooth wear in military policemen of São Luis, MA, Brazil. Methods: One hundred volunteers were selected (22 - 45 years old). Bruxism was diagnosed according to the criteria of presence of aligned wear facets associated to one of the following signs and symptoms: report of grinding bruxism sounds, painful sensitivity to palpation of the masseteric and temporal muscles, report of morning masticatory muscle discomfort and/or masseteric muscle hypertrophy. Tooth wear severity was assessed using the Modified Ordinal Scale in casts of both arches of all volunteers. Results: The results showed that 29% of policemen were bruxists; 94.4% of all teeth evaluated exhibited wear but 69.1% of the teeth showed wear restricted to enamel. Statistical difference was observed between the incisors and the other teeth group, considering tooth wear (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference on tooth wear between bruxists and non-bruxists (p>0.05). Conclusion: The severity of tooth wear was similar in bruxists and non-bruxists. Supported by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão - FAPEMA