title: Evaluation of sleep bruxism with a novel designed occlusal splint.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This report presents our evaluation system that assesses sleep bruxism. The characteristics and fabrication process of our novel designed splint, and the analysis process of our system are presented.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 17 volunteers. The splint was fabricated with a self-curing resin compounded with an amino-acid powder for easy wear on the semi-adjustable articulator, and adjusted for a full-balanced occlusion. An impression of the splint, located on the cast, was taken before and after it was worn. The analytical casts were made and scanned via a dental 3D scanner. The datasets were superimposed using two kinds of regions of interest (palate and occlusal surface). The differences between the two datasets were quantitatively presented with pseudo-color mapping. The maximum differences in coronal and apical directions were calculated on the selected area in the occlusal surface when the occlusal surface was used as a region of interest for registration. The relationship between the EMG activities and the change of occlusal surface of the splint were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all subjects, deformation and wear facets on the splint were observed. The differences in the apical direction, which indicate wear depth, were correlated with the maximum muscle activity during sleep (p=0.036).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From our results, it is suggested that we are not able to eliminate the influence of parafunction for the prosthesis only by designing the surface of occlusal splint using the semi-adjustable articulator. Our splint may have the potential to detect specific facets due to parafunctions as nocturnal bruxism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.affiliation: Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shigeta
authors.affiliation: Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, Yokohama, Japan. Electronic address: shigemoto-s@tsurumi-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shigemoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Fixed Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Takumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003735:Dental Casting Technique; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017090:Occlusal Splints; D016382:Orthodontic Appliance Design / Q000379:methods*; D020186:Sleep Bruxism / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019217:Tooth Attrition / Q000175:diagnosis
keywords: Occlusal splint; Occlusal wear; Sleep bruxism