Improvement of bruxism after T & A surgery.
Bruxism or tooth grinding is an oral habit that frequently occurs during sleep. Some authors suggest it is associated to sleep apnea.


OBJECTIVE
The main goal of this study is compare the incidence of bruxism before and after adenotonsillectomy (T & A surgery) in children with sleep-disordered breathing.


METHODS
This is a prospective study in which we evaluated 69 consecutive children from the Otolaryngology Department of the University of São Paulo Medical School in pre- and post-surgical periods of adenotonsillectomy. Before and after surgery parents answered a questionnaire about sleep-disturbed breathing and bruxism. Children were submitted to E.N.T. examination and speech pathologist evaluation. The orthodontist inspected malocclusion. Before surgery all the 69 children presented sleep apnea and 45.6% presented bruxism. Malocclusion could be found in 60.71%. Three months after surgery none of the children presented breathing problems and only 11.8% presented bruxism. There was no difference in malocclusion.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that there is a positive correlation between sleep-disordered breathing and bruxism. There was an important improvement of bruxism after T & A surgery. Otolaryngologists must be aware that this pernicious sleep disorder is associated to airway obstruction and so, it must be considered when evaluating T & A hyperplasia.
DiFrancesco
Renata C
RC
Division of Otolaryngology, São Paulo University Medical School, Rua Guarará 529 cj. 121, São Paulo CEP 01425-001, Brazil. difran@attglobal.net
Junqueira
Paula Andreya S
PA
Trezza
Priscilla Maria
PM
de Faria
Maria Estela J
ME
Frizzarini
Ronaldo
R
Zerati
Fabio Elias
FE
D000233:Adenoidectomy / Q000379:methods; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002012:Bruxism / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000150:complications; D014066:Palatine Tonsil / Q000473:pathology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014068:Tonsillectomy / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome