Bruxism force detection by a piezoelectric film-based recording device in sleeping humans.
OBJECTIVE
To test the reliability and utility of a force-based bruxism detection system (Intra-Splint Force Detector [ISFD]) for multiple night recordings of forceful tooth-to-splint contacts in sleeping human subjects in their home environment.


METHODS
Bruxism-type forces, i.e., forceful tooth-to-splint contacts, during the night were recorded with this system in 12 subjects (6 bruxers and 6 controls) for 5 nights in their home environment; a laboratory-based nocturnal polysomnogram (NPSG) study was also performed on 1 of these subjects.


RESULTS
All 12 subjects were able to use the device without substantial difficulty on a nightly basis. The bruxer group exhibited bruxism events of significantly longer duration than the control group (27 seconds/hour versus 7.4 seconds/hour, P < .01). A NPSG study performed on 1 subject revealed that, when the masseter muscle electromyogram (EMG) was used as a "gold standard," the ISFD had a sensitivity of 0.89. The correlation coefficient between the duration of events detected by the ISFD and the EMG was also 0.89.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the ISFD is a system that can be used easily by the subjects and that has a reasonable reliability for bruxism detection as reflected in forceful tooth-to-splint contacts during sleep.
Baba
Kazuyoshi
K
Removable Prosthodontics, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8549, Japan. kazu.rpro@tmd.ac.jp
Clark
Glenn T
GT
Watanabe
Tatsutomi
T
Ohyama
Takashi
T
D000328:Adult; D001732:Bite Force; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004576:Electromyography; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008406:Masseter Muscle / Q000503:physiopathology; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D017090:Occlusal Splints; D017286:Polysomnography / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020186:Sleep Bruxism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors