Relationship between bruxism behaviors and painful and non-painful jaw symptoms in healthy young adults, evaluated using different modes of assessment

This study aimed to determine the relationship between sleep bruxism behaviors and jaw symptoms in healthy young adults. This cross-sectional study included 99 dental students. Participants completed the Oral Behavior Checklist and the BruxScreen protocol and wore a BruxChecker for three nights. We found a positive correlation between self-reported awake and sleep bruxism and both painful and non-painful jaw symptoms. BruxChecker perforation, jaw symptoms, and tooth wear predicted self-report frequency of sleep bruxism on ordinal regression. However, sleep bruxism assessed with the BruxChecker or clinical examination was not associated with the frequency of any jaw symptoms. In healthy young adults, the grinding component of sleep bruxism evaluated at the dental level is not associated with the frequency of either painful or non-painful jaw symptoms. Tooth wear and non-painful jaw symptoms might contribute to the self-reported frequency of sleep bruxism.