Head posture and dental wear evaluation of bruxist children with primary teeth

The aim of the present study was to compare the head position and dental wear of bruxist and non-bruxist children with primary dentition.

All the subjects had complete primary dentition, dental and skeletal class I occlusion and were classified as bruxist or non-bruxist according to their anxiety level, bruxism described by their parents and signs of temporomandibular disorders. The dental wear was drawn in dental casts and processed in digital format. Physiotherapeutic evaluation and a cephalometric radiograph with natural head position were also performed for each child to evaluate the cranio-cervical position for the bruxist group (n = 33) and the control group (n = 20). The variables of the two groups were compared, using the Student t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test.

A more anterior and downward head tilt was found in the bruxist group, with statistically significant differences compared with the controls. More significant dental wear was observed in the bruxist children.

Bruxism seems to be related to altered natural head posture and more intense dental wear. Further studies are necessary to explore bruxism mechanisms.