Glycemic burden during nocturnal sleep in patients with sleep bruxism across sleep stages

OBJECTIVE: To assess nocturnal glycemic burden across sleep stages in adults with polysomnographically confirmed sleep bruxism. METHODS: 95 adults underwent polysomnography, bilateral masseter electromyography, and continuous glucose monitoring. 70 participants with BEI ≥2 events/h formed the sleep bruxism group and 25 with BEI <2 were controls. Glycemic burden was calculated as glucose AUC (mg·h/dL). RESULTS: Fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, sleep architecture, respiratory indices, and oxygenation did not differ. Glycemic burden was higher with bruxism during total sleep time (690.06 vs. 634.08 mg·h/dL; p = .008) and non-rapid eye movement sleep (524.89 vs. 489.20 mg·h/dL; p = .046). Mean nocturnal glucose and glycemic variability were similar. In 15 participants with BEI >4, glucose during RMMA-related bruxism periods was higher than outside them (102.60 ± 13.06 vs. 97.07 ± 9.37 mg/dL; p = .044). . CONCLUSION: Sleep bruxism was associated with higher nocturnal glycemic burden, particularly during non-rapid eye movement sleep, but causality and independence from confounding require confirmation.